An attorney has issued a statement on behalf of the Tuohy family following Michael Oher’s claims that they faked his adoption to financially exploit him.
Michael — whose rise to NFL stardom served as the inspiration for The Blind Side in 2009 — alleged in a lawsuit on Monday that Sean and Leigh Ann Tuohy did not legally adopt him, as is depicted in the Oscar-winning film, but instead “tricked him into signing a document making them his conservators.”
He claims that the conservatorship — which he signed at 18 years old under the belief that he was being adopted — enabled the couple to negotiate a deal to make a movie based on his falsified life story, from which they would profit millions of dollars.
The Blind Side was a critical and commercial success, grossing more than $300 million globally and earning two Academy Award nominations — with Sandra Bullock winning the Best Actress Oscar for her portrayal of Leigh Anne in the movie.
Michael’s petition alleges that the Tuohys and their birth children, Collins and SJ Tuohy, each earned $225,000 from the hit movie, as well as 2.5% of its “defined net proceeds,” while he received nothing.
The lawsuit says that Michael discovered the conservatorship filings in February this year.
He says the 2004 legal agreement revealed that he had “no familial relationship with the Tuohys,” despite Sean and Leigh Anne referring to him as their “adopted son,” and using that “untruth to gain financial advantages for themselves and the foundations which they own or which they exercise control.”
And now, the Tuohys have responded via a lengthy statement from their attorney, Marty Singer, which was obtained by TMZ.
Singer begins by describing Michael’s allegations as “outlandish,” “hurtful” and “absurd,” saying that the idea that the Tuohys ever sought to “profit off” him is “not only offensive,” but “transparently ridiculous.”
The couple confirm through their attorney that Michael is involved in a conservatorship — “from which not one penny was received” — but that they have always been “upfront” about the legal arrangement.
They say the conservatorship was “established to assist with Mr. Oher’s needs, ranging from getting him health insurance and obtaining a driver’s license to helping with college admissions,” adding that if Michael wishes to terminate the conservatorship, the Tuohys will “never oppose it.”
As is depicted in The Blind Side, the statement notes that Sean and Leigh Ann have long been exceptionally wealthy from their work in the restaurant industry. Singer refutes that “a couple worth hundreds of millions of dollars would connive to withhold a few thousand dollars in profit participation payments from anyone — let alone from someone they loved as a son.”
Offering an account of the process behind adapting Michael Lewis’ 2006 book The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game into the Oscar-winning movie, Singer claims that the Tuohys “insisted that any money received be divided equally” and “they have made good on that pledge.”
“When Michael Lewis, a friend of Sean’s since childhood, was approached about turning his book on Mr. Oher and the Tuohys into a movie about their family, his agents negotiated a deal where they received a small advance from the production company and a tiny percentage of net profits,” the statement reads. “Over the years, the Tuohys have given Mr. Oher an equal cut of every penny received from The Blind Side.”
What’s more, Singer alleges that the Tuohys have continued to give Michael his “equal share” of the profits, even after he allegedly attempted to “threaten” them in a $15 million “shakedown effort.”
“They have continued to treat him like a son and one of their three children,” they claim. “His response was to threaten them, including saying that he would plant a negative story about them in the press unless they paid him $15 million.”
Singer alleges that Michael “has actually attempted to run this play several times before — but it seems that numerous other lawyers stopped representing him once they saw the evidence and learned the truth.”
“Sadly, Mr. Oher has finally found a willing enabler and filed this ludicrous lawsuit as a cynical attempt to drum up attention in the middle of his latest book tour,” the statement continues, referring to Michael’s new book, When Your Back’s Against the Wall, which was released this month.
In conclusion, Singer says the Tuohys “will always care deeply for Mr. Oher” and are “heartbroken over these events.”
“They desperately hope that he comes to regret his recent decisions, makes different choices in the future and that they someday can be reconciled with him,” the closing lines read. “In the meantime, however, they will not hesitate to defend their good names, stand up to this shakedown and defeat this offensive lawsuit.”
Michael has yet to respond to the claims in the statement. BuzzFeed has contacted a representative for Michael for comment.
Source: https://www.buzzfeed.com/ellendurney/the-blind-side-tuohy-family-respond-to-michael-oher-lawsuit