Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy, the Tennessee couple who took in a younger Michael Oher earlier than he turned an NFL sort out, stated they “by no means meant” to undertake him and have solely referred to him as their son within the “colloquial sense.”
The Tuohys, whose story was instructed in a e book and an award-winning movie each known as “The Blind Facet,” on Thursday denied lots of the bombshell allegations made by Oher final month, when he requested to finish a conservatorship that has given the couple energy of lawyer over him and management of his funds.
Oher claimed in his petition that the couple had lied about adopting him into their household and tricked him into the conservatorship, a authorized association designed for people who find themselves incapacitated by psychological or bodily incapacity.
“Michael Oher found this deceive his chagrin and embarrassment in February of 2023, when he discovered that the Conservatorship to which he consented on the idea that doing so would make him a member of the Tuohy household, in actual fact offered him no familial relationship with the Tuohys,” his petition stated.
In a response filed Thursday, the couple stated that they by no means instructed Oher they meant to legally undertake him, however they thought-about him a part of the household.
“Clearly, the [Tuohys] liked [Oher] and consequently offered him with shelter, meals, and clothes and actually purchased him a couple of car for his private use,” their response stated.
Wealthy Graessle/Icon Sportswire/Corbis/Icon Sportswire by way of Getty Photographs
Oher, who’s now 37, had been taken in by the Tuohy household at age 18 after spending years within the foster care system. He acquired varied scholarship provides to play faculty soccer and finally selected the College of Mississippi, the Tuohys’ alma mater. He went on to play for a number of NFL groups.
In 2009, the movie “The Blind Facet” introduced his life because the heartwarming story of a Black teen reaching his potential with the assistance of a rich white household. It earned Sandra Bullock an Oscar for her portrayal of Leigh Anne Tuohy.
However the August petition from Oher, who retired from skilled soccer in 2017, pushed again in opposition to the film’s cheery narrative. He stated that after shifting into the Tuohys’ house in 2004, the couple stated they meant to undertake him and introduced him what with what he thought had been adoption papers to signal. However the paperwork had been truly for the appointment of conservators, Oher stated.
“Michael was falsely suggested by the Tuohys that as a result of he was over the age of eighteen, that the authorized motion to undertake Michael must be known as a ‘conservatorship’ nevertheless it was, for all intents and functions, an adoption,” his petition learn.
Of their response, the Tuohys stated the conservatorship, which made them Oher’s authorized guardians, was meant to permit him to play faculty soccer at Ole Miss with out breaking NCAA guidelines that forestall college donors from influencing potential gamers.
“When it turned clear that [Oher] couldn’t take into account going to the College of Mississippi (‘Ole Miss’) on account of dwelling with the [Tuohys], the NCAA made it clear that the one method he might attend Ole Miss was if he was a part of the Tuohy household in some trend,” the Tuohys’ response stated. “Conservatorship was the device chosen to perform this aim.”
Oher stated he was unaware that the conservatorship gave the couple “complete management” over his capability to enter contracts though he was over the age of 18. He added that over time, the couple falsely introduced themselves as his adopted mother and father and “enriched themselves” at his expense to the tune of hundreds of thousands of {dollars}.
Whereas the couple conceded that they’ve colloquially referred to Oher as their son in public, they denied ever calling him such in a authorized sense or profiting off him.
Throughout Oher’s conservatorship, the couple allegedly negotiated contracts with Twentieth Century Fox on his behalf to make use of his likeness for “The Blind Facet,” Oher’s petition stated. Neither the Tuohys nor the movie’s producers knowledgeable him of the settlement or ensured that he would profit from the movie’s success, in accordance with the petition, and his title and likeness rights had been allegedly signed over to Fox for nothing.
The couple stated they’ve by no means signed a contract on Oher’s behalf. Additionally they denied negotiating with producers of “The Blind Facet” and stated this course of was dealt with by writer Michael Lewis, who wrote the e book the movie was based mostly on. The Tuohys stated all proceeds they acquired from the movie have been break up evenly between them, their two organic kids, and Oher.
After the movie carried out nicely, Alcon Leisure LLC, which acquired the film from Fox, made a $200,000 donation to Leigh Anne Tuohy’s basis. The Tuohys stated Oher had the identical alternative to obtain $200,000 and provides it to a charity of his alternative.
When it comes to the conservatorship, the couple stated they’re “prepared, keen, and ready” to terminate it however requested the courtroom to disclaim Oher’s request for monetary damages.
Attorneys representing Oher and the Tuohys didn’t reply to JHB’s requests for a remark.
Don Barrett, an lawyer for Oher, instructed NBC Information on Thursday that “We stay up for Mike lastly getting his day in courtroom, the place we’re assured that the reality will prevail.”