OAN’s Elizabeth Volberding
2:40 PM – Tuesday, November 14, 2023
Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy paid more than $138,000 in profits to former NFL star Michael Oher for his involvement in the Blind Side book and film.
Court documents released showed that Oher received over $138,000 in proceeds, according to court documents filed in the Shelby County Probate Court in Tennessee.
The Blind Side movie is based on a book written by Michael Lewis. The film adaption, starring Sandra Bullock, Quinton Aaron, Tim McGraw, and Lily Collins, describes Oher’s life story.
Oher, 37, the former NFL player, claimed earlier this year that his adoptive parents, Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy, had been profiting off of him and his story for years. Oher asserted that the Tuohys had “collectively received millions of dollars and Michael received nothing for his rights.”
However, the Tuohy family stated in their legal filing that Oher received an “equal cut” in profits from the Blind Side.
According to court documents filed last week, the Tuohy family, including Sean Tuohy, Leigh Anne Tuohy, and their children, along with Michael Oher, purportedly made an agreement that “the book and movie proceeds received were to be split five ways.”
The total amount of $138,311.01 in proceeds was then disbursed in several check payments between June 2007 and April 2023.
“By agreement between the family members including Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy, their children SJ and Collins as well as Michael Oher, the book and movie proceeds were to be split five ways. These funds represent funds paid to Mr. Tuohy and the portion paid over to Mr. Oher,” according to a statement filed by the Tuohys’ lawyers.
The Tuohy family have previously maintained that the movie did not “make them very much money.” The filing also highlighted how the couple had spent tens of thousands of dollars of their own money to support Oher during his high school and college years.
Additionally, the family alleged that they “never received any money as conservators on behalf of Michael Oher,” were not in charge of any money or “dealings on behalf of Oher” throughout his conservatorship, and that they spent “tens of thousands of their own money to support Oher” during his time at school.
The filing also included a record that depicts payments that the Tuohys made to Oher, along with deposits the couple made to a bank account in the name of one of Oher’s children.
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