Tuohys Call Michael Oher's Claims 'Hurtful', Shakedown Attempt: Report

MEMPHIS, TN — Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy are calling former Baltimore Ravens offensive tackle Michael Oher's claims that the couple took advantage of him financially "hurtful," "absurd" and part of a plan to obtain $15 million from the family, according to reports.

Oher, whose relationship with the Tuohy family inspired the movie "The Blind Side," filed a legal petition Monday in Tennessee alleging the Tuohys never adopted him as they claimed and financially enriched themselves at his expense.

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In a statement released by their lawyers and first obtained by TMZ Sports, the couple said Wednesday they were heartbroken by the claims and accused Oher of threatening to plant a negative story about them unless they paid him $15 million.

In the statement later obtained by the Associated Press, attorney Martin Singer said the Tuohys hope Oher regrets his recent decisions and that they can reconcile.

"In the meantime, however, they will not hesitate to defend their good names, stand up to this shakedown and defeat this offensive lawsuit," the statement said.

Oher filed a petition in Shelby County Probate Court earlier this week asking a judge to terminate a conservatorship initiated by the Tuohys in 2004 — months after he turned 18. According to court documents, Oher only learned of the arrangement this year and is seeking to end the agreement and collect money the couple made off the erroneous story that he was adopted.

"Michael Oher discovered this lie to his chagrin and embarrassment in February of 2023, when he learned that the conservatorship to which he consented on the basis that doing so would make him a member of the Tuohy family, in fact, provided him no familial relationship with the Tuohys," the petition said.

He moved in with the Tuohys just before his senior year of high school and later attended Sean Tuohy's alma mater, Mississippi. In the petition, Oher claimed he received nothing from the movie inspired by his life story that earned millions of dollars at the box office and asked for a full accounting of his assets.

Oher, who has never been a fan of the movie about his life, also asks in the petition that the Tuohys be sanctioned and required to pay compensatory and punitive damages determined by the court.

The Tuohys and their biological children received millions from "The Blind Side," which grossed over $330 million in revenue, the petition said. Oher, however, "purportedly signed" a life story rights agreement with Fox for no payment, although the petition states Oher did not knowingly sign the document.

The movie was nominated for an Oscar, and Sandra Bullock won the Academy Award for portraying Leigh Anne Tuohy.

According to the Tuohy family's attorney, Oher received an "equal cut of every penny" from the movie, TMZ Sports reported.

"Even recently, when Mr. Oher started to threaten them about what he would do unless they paid him an eight-figure windfall, and, as part of that shakedown effort refused to cash the small profit checks from the Tuohys, they still deposited Mr. Oher's equal share into a trust account they set up for his son," Singer wrote.

Earlier this week, Sean Tuohy told the Daily Memphian his family was "devastated," willing to end the conservatorship, and made far less off the movie than Oher's petition alleged. He also told the website that the conservatorship was related to his role as a booster for the University of Mississippi when Oher was considering playing for the school.

"It's upsetting to think we would make money off any of our children," Tuohy told the outlet. "But we're going to love Michael at 37 just like we loved him at 16."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.