Ties have officially been cut between Michael Oher and the Tuohys. A Tennessee judge Friday ended the conservatorship that previously allowed Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy to control the finances for the former NFL player, according to AP.
In his petition to the court, Oher alleged the couple tricked him into a conservatorship to secure legal authority over business deals in his name, depriving him of profits from the film The Blind Side while mischaracterizing the true nature of their relationship. Oher signed the agreement when he was 18 and living with the couple as he was being recruited by colleges.
Shelby County Probate Court Judge Kathleen Gomes said she was not dismissing the case. Oher has asked the Tuohys to provide a financial accounting of money that may have come to them as part of the agreement. He alleged the Tuohys used his name, image and likeness to make money; he also claims they lied about adopting him.
Gomes did question the fact that a conservatorship agreement was made with someone who was not disabled. Conservatorships in Tennessee are typically used to remove power from a person who has a medical condition or a disability. Oher’s conservatorship was approved even though he was 18 and had no diagnosed physical or psychological disabilities, according to the petition.
“I cannot believe it got done,” said Gomes, adding that it should have been dissolved long ago.
The Tuohys’ attorney Marty Singer referred to the suit as part of a “shakedown effort” on the part of Oher. And Michael Lewis, the author of The Blind Side‘s source material, has also weighed in to suggest that “the Hollywood studio system” is more at fault for Oher’s lack of profit participation than the Tuohys personally.
Broderick Johnson and Andrew Kosove, the co-founders of The Blind Side financier Alcon Entertainment who also produced the film, also commented on thecontroversy by saying there have been “many mischaracterizations and uninformed opinions” put out about the situation, and that the film they made is “as true today as it was 14 years ago.”
“The Blind Side is verifiably authentic and will never be a lie or fake,” the pair stated, “regardless of the familial ups and downs that have occurred subsequent to the film.”