Sandra Bullock’s The Blind Side falsely portrayed the real-life Tuohy family heroically adopting ex-NFL player Michael Oher, who is now taking legal action against the family.
Sean Tuohy and Leigh Anne Tuohy, played by Sandra Bullock in the 2009 sports drama film, claimed that “there was never an intent to adopt [Oher],” in court documents obtained by E! News.
“The [Tuohys] admit that they never intended to, and in fact never did, take any action to assume legal custody through the Juvenile Court of Shelby, Tennessee,” the documents confirmed.
However, the Tuohys denied any malicious intent. “They vehemently deny that they saw [Michael] as a gullible young man whose athletic talent could be exploited for their own benefit,” stated the documents.
Moreover, they reiterated that the Tuohys always saw Oher, who previously expressed that he had “no familial relationship with the Tuohys” due to the conservatorship, as a son but “not in a legal sense.”
The details emerged a month after Oher alleged that the Tuohy family made nearly a million dollars by lying about his adoption, and instead made them his conservators, allowing them to sell his life story to the award-winning movie.
The ex-NFL player moved to terminate his questionable conservatorship in August, alleging that the Tuohys “falsely advised” him to unknowingly consent to the agreement in 2004.
“When it became clear that [Michael] could not consider going to the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) as a result of living with the [Tuohys], the NCAA made it clear that the only way he could attend Ole Miss is if he was part of the Tuohy family in some fashion,” the new documents shed light on the situation.
“Conservatorship was the tool chosen to accomplish this goal,” the legal documents concluded.