'The Blind Side' subject Michael Oher says his adoption was a 'lie' that enriched family

In a Monday court filing, NFL star Michael Oher alleged that his adoption by a wealthy white family — the basis of the 2009 film "The Blind Side" — was a lie at his financial and emotional expense. 

The 14-page petition, filed in Shelby County, Tennessee, alleges that Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy never adopted Oher when they took him in as a high schooler and presented him with legal papers that he believed were a "necessary step in the adoption process" but that actually made them his conservators. 

The filing alleges that Oher, then 18, was told by the couple that the move was essentially an adoption, but had to be called a conservatorship since he was a legal adult. He expressed a similar belief in his 2011 memoir, "I Beat the Odds," writing that the couple told him adoption and conservatorship were “pretty much the exact same thing" with age being the main difference. 

"The lie of Michael's adoption is one upon which Co-Conservators Leigh Anne Tuohy and Sean Tuohy have enriched themselves at the expense of their Ward, the undersigned Michael Oher," the petition says. "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." 

Court records show that the Tuohys filed for conservatorship of Oher in August 2004, a few months after he turned 18. 

Through the conservatorship, the petition alleges that the Tuohys and their two birth children earned millions of dollars in royalties from the Oscar-winning film starring Sandra Bullock and Tim McGraw, while Oher earned nothing. It further alleges that the Tuohys continued to profit through their use of the now 37-year-old Oher's name and likeness, and through their claim to be his adoptive parents. 

The petition asks the court to end the conservatorship and block the Tuohys from using Oher's name and likeness. It also calls for the couple to hand over any money that should have gone to Oher and seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.

ESPN was the first to report the filing Monday. The outlet said the Tuohys did not immediately return phone calls seeking comment. 

ABC24 staff in Memphis contributed to this report.