Michael Oher Is Suing Sean And Leigh Anne Tuohy, Saying 'The Blind Side' Story Is A Lie And The Family Tricked Him Into Signing A Conservatorship

ESPN — Retired NFL star Michael Oher, whose supposed adoption out of grinding poverty by a wealthy, white family was immortalized in the 2009 movie "The Blind Side," petitioned a Tennessee court Monday with allegations that a central element of the story was a lie concocted by the family to enrich themselves at his expense.

The 14-page petition, filed in Shelby County, Tennessee, probate court, alleges that Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy, who took Oher into their home as a high school student, never adopted him. Instead, less than three months after Oher turned 18 in 2004, the petition says, the couple tricked him into signing a document making them his conservators, which gave them legal authority to make business deals in his name.

The petition further alleges that the Tuohys used their power as conservators to strike the deal that paid them and their two birth children millions of dollars in royalties from an Oscar-winning film that earned more than $300 million, while Oher got nothing for a story "that would not have existed without him." In the years since, the Tuohys have continued calling the 37-year-old Oher their adopted son and have used that assertion to promote their foundation as well as Leigh Anne Tuohy's work as an author and motivational speaker.

Remember this scene from The Blind Side where the NCAA investigator interrogates Michael Oher about why the Tuohys took him in and then he begins to question it himself?

Well, the film goes on to have a happier ending where Michael and his supposedly adopted family all reconcile and live happily ever after as Michael goes on to star at Ole Miss and become a first round pick in the NFL Draft. Turns out the movie should have actually ended right there, because that woman was absolutely right.

Honestly, I wish this development was surprising, but is it really? It turns out the rich white family that brought a random homeless 6'4", 300-pound kid into its home may have had some ulterior motives, after all.

Oher alleges he has not made any money from the movie — which grossed $300 million — while Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy and their two biological children were each paid $250,000 plus 2.5 percent of the film's "defined net proceeds."

This development, unsurprising as it may be, just sucks. The Blind Side is an awesome movie. It seems like it's about a great, feel-good story. Turns out it's about an asshole family who was already rich and made themselves even richer on the back of a homeless kid they groomed to play football at their alma mater and then tricked into letting them steal his money — allegedly. Fun!

I hope Michael wins a shitton of money from this lawsuit. All my homies hate the Tuohys. Still an outstanding acting performance from Sandra Bullock, though.