Former NFL star Michael Oher, whose story inspired the Oscar-nominated film The Blind SideHe said he felt cheated by his “adoptive” parents, who turned his personal story into an $8 million profit for themselves, while he claims he received little or nothing.
The Super Bowl champion once sat down with New York Times Magazine To break his silence about his high-profile lawsuit against Sean and Lee Anne Tuohy, the wealthy Memphis couple who claimed to have adopted Oher when he was a high school student in 2004. In fact, they had established guardianship over the 18-year-old, whom Oher only discovered in February 2023, prompting him to file his lawsuit against them last August.
The first time I heard “I Love You” was from Sean and Lee Ann. [Tuohy] “When that happens at 18, you become vulnerable,” O’Hare told the magazine. “You lower your guard and then everything is stripped away from you. It becomes a feeling of pain.”
“I don't want to make it about race, but what I've discovered is that nobody says 'I love you' more than white coaches and white people. When black people say it, they mean it,” he added.
While the judge vacated the guardianship in September, other aspects of the lawsuit are still ongoing. O’Hare alleges that the Tuohys exploited his story and image for substantial profit, and repeatedly made false statements that they adopted him. (In an affidavit, Leigh Ann Tuohy alleged that the family used the word “adopted” “in a colloquial sense, to describe the family relationship we felt… and it was never intended to be a legal term of art.”)
At the heart of Oher’s frustrations seems to lie in the way he was portrayed in both the book and the 2009 Oscar-nominated film, in which Sandra Bullock won best actress for her portrayal of Lee Anne. “It’s hard to describe my reaction,” Oher said of the impression that he wasn’t smart or a good football player before meeting the Tuohys. “It seemed funny to me, to be honest, like it was a comedy about someone else. I wasn’t affected. But social media was just starting to grow, and I started seeing stupid things about me. I’m stupid. Every article about me said I was stupid.” The Blind Side“As if it was part of my name.”
Oher said the film premiered just a few months after he was drafted by the Baltimore Ravens, and he believed the book had a negative impact on his draft position. “NFL officials were wondering if I could read the playbook,” he said.
As the civil suit continues, O'Hare insists his case isn't necessarily about money, but about the idea that his identity is now tied to what he sees as a false narrative about his life. “For a long time, I was very angry mentally,” O'Hare said. “Because of what I was going through. I want to be the person I was before I die.” The Blind Side“Personally, I'm still working on that.”
