Michael Oher Breaks His Silence On The Tuohy Family Amid Legal Drama

Michael Oher, the former NFL player who inspired "The Blind Side," has spoken out about his legal battle with the Tuohy family. The Tuohys welcomed Oher into their home when he was in high school, but contrary to popular belief, they never adopted Oher, who had a tumultuous home life as a youngster. "The first time I heard 'I love you,' it was Sean and Leigh Anne [Tuohy] saying it," Oher told The New York Times on August 18, a year after his legal battle with the Tuohys began. "You let your guard down and then you get everything stripped from you," he added.

The former tackle was drafted by the Baltimore Ravens around the same time "The Blind Side" premiered in 2009. Oher believes the movie severely downplayed his intelligence. "It seemed kind of funny to me, to tell you the truth, like it was a comedy about someone else," Oher explained. "The NFL people were wondering if I could read a playbook," he said. Oher added that he did not concern himself with legally pursuing the Tuohys during his playing career.

In August 2023, however, Oher filed a lawsuit after realizing Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy never legally adopted him and had, instead, signed him up for a conservatorship. "We're devastated," Sean told the Daily Memphian at the time. "But we're going to love Michael at 37 just like we loved him at 16." The Tuohys later alleged that Oher had sent threatening texts about the case.

The conservatorship Michael Oher had with Sean Tuohy and Leigh Anne Tuohy was dissolved in September 2023. Judge Kathleen Gomes, who ruled on the case, was surprised to see a conservatorship was ever established as Oher, who was 18 years old when he signed it, showed no signs of physical or mental disability. "I cannot believe it got done," Gomes said, per the Associated Press.

A major point of contention between Oher and the Tuohys was that they never legally adopted him, but often referred to the football star as their adopted son. "[I]n the colloquial sense and they have never intended that reference to be viewed with legal implication," their lawyer argued, per the Associated Press. By November 2023, the Tuohys removed any documents associated with their websites or their foundations that referred to Oher as their "adopted son." A defamation lawyer told Nicki Swift the suit could cost the Tuohys millions of dollars.

In December 2023, the legal case between the former NFL pro and the Tuohys heated up when they presented alleged text messages from Oher. "If something isn't resolved this Friday, I'm going to go ahead and tell the world, how I was robbed by my suppose to be parents," the texts presented by the Tuohys in court read, according to People. "It was 10 million now I want 15 after taxes," another text read. Their lawyer described these supposed texts from Oher as "menacing." Meanwhile, Sandra Bullock came under fire for her part in "The Blind Side" legal scandal.

After news broke that Michael Oher was bringing Sean Tuohy and Leigh Anne Tuohy to court, several fans came after Sandra Bullock for her role in "The Blind Side" movie, which earned her a best actress Academy Award for her on-screen portrayal of Leigh Anne. "Sandra Bullock should give her Oscar back. She knows she didn't deserve that s**t," sportscaster Brandon Walker tweeted in August 2023.

Bulluck was bothered after finding out that the Tuohys had possibly been duplicitous to Oher. "[I]t just upsets Sandra to no end that a time in her life that was so special, is now shadowed with a completely different perspective," a source told the Daily Mail in August 2023 as the actor faced online backlash. The blowback could not have come at a worse time for Bullock, whose long-time partner, Bryan Randall, had died from ALS around the same time.

Some fans came to Bullock's defense amid "The Blind Side" scandal and so did her co-star, Quinton Aaron, who played Oher in the film. "Sandra did nothing wrong," Aaron told the New York Post in August 2023. "I really feel like they should leave her alone and stop trying to come at her," he said. Aaron said, over the years, he was aware that Oher was displeased with how he portrayed in the movie, but did not realize the full dynamic between the offensive tackle and the Tuohys. "We never got a chance to have that conversation, unfortunately," Aaron told the Post.