Michael Oher, the former NFL star whose life inspired the hit movie The Blind Side, is speaking out for the first time since filing a lawsuit against Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy, the couple who took him in during his teenage years. The lawsuit, which led to the termination of his conservatorship, accuses the Tuohys of exploiting his story for financial gain, leaving Oher feeling deceived and betrayed.
In a new interview with The New York Times Magazine, published on Sunday, August 18, more than a year after he filed the lawsuit, Oher opened up about his time living with the wealthy Memphis family. Despite the positive portrayal in the 2009 film, Oher expressed that his experience was far from what was shown on screen.
“The first time I heard ‘I love you,’ it was Sean and Leigh Anne [Tuohy] saying it. When that happens at 18, you become vulnerable,” Oher shared in the interview. “You let your guard down and then you get everything stripped from you. It turns into a hurt feeling.”
Oher, now 38, reflected on the emotional impact of those words, particularly coming from a family he trusted. “I don’t want to make this about race, but what I found out was that nobody says ‘I love you’ more than coaches and white people. When Black people say it, they mean it,” he continued, hinting at the complexities of his relationship with the Tuohys.
Despite his grievances, Oher did acknowledge the material comfort and support he received from the Tuohys. “Honestly, it was great,” he admitted, recalling how they provided him with clothes, a tutor to help him become eligible for college football, and even a truck. “I had a bed to stay on. I was eating good. They got me a truck.”
However, Oher’s perspective on The Blind Side is much more critical. The film, which brought his story to a global audience, also created a public persona that Oher feels misrepresented who he was as an athlete and a person. According to Oher, the narrative was shaped by the Tuohys and not by his own experiences. “While I focused on football, Sean and Leigh Anne aided the creation of the movie, which began as a book by Michael Lewis, using their ‘narrative,’” Oher explained, emphasizing that the portrayal in the film was inaccurate.
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Reflecting on the release of the movie, which coincided with the start of his NFL career, Oher said, “That’s my heartbreak right there. … It was as soon as I got there, I was defined.” Oher did not attend the film’s premiere, and when he finally watched it about a month after its release, he found it difficult to connect with the portrayal. “It’s hard to describe my reaction. It seemed kind of funny to me, to tell you the truth, like it was a comedy about someone else,” he told the magazine. “It didn’t register.”
One of the most significant issues Oher had with the film was how it underplayed his intelligence, leading to misconceptions about his abilities. “The NFL people were wondering if I could read a playbook,” he recalled, highlighting how the movie’s portrayal affected his professional life. Oher also worried about how this portrayal might impact his children. “If my kids can’t do something in class, will their teacher think, ‘Their dad is dumb—is that why they’re not getting it?’” he questioned.
In his interview with The New York Times Magazine, Oher emphasized that his lawsuit against the Tuohys is not about money, despite the allegations in the August 14 filing that Sean, Leigh Anne, and their two children “collectively received millions of dollars while Michael received nothing for his rights” to The Blind Side. Instead, Oher insisted that he is financially secure, having saved the money he earned during his NFL career. “I worked hard for that moment when I was done playing, and saved my money so I could enjoy the time,” he said. “I’m fine, I have millions of dollars.”
As for why he waited until last August to file the lawsuit, Oher explained that his focus was on his demanding NFL career at the time. “Pro football’s a hard job. You have to be locked in 100 percent,” he explained. “I went along with their narrative because I really had to focus on my NFL career, not things off the field.”
Oher also admitted that for a long time, he was “so angry mentally” about the situation that it consumed him. Now, however, he is focused on rediscovering himself and moving forward. “I want to be the person I was before The Blind Side, personality-wise,” he said. “I’m still working on it.”
The legal battle between Oher and the Tuohy family is ongoing, but there has already been a significant development. A month after Oher filed his lawsuit in August 2023, a judge in Shelby County, Tennessee, dissolved the conservatorship that had been established when Oher turned 18. The conservatorship, which gave the Tuohy family control over Oher’s money and major life decisions, was highly unusual, as Tennessee law typically requires such arrangements to be made only for individuals with disabilities.
Judge Kathleen Gomes, who presided over the case, noted that in her 43-year career, she had never seen a conservatorship agreement reached with someone who was not disabled. The termination of the conservatorship marks a pivotal moment in Oher’s fight for autonomy and justice.
As the lawsuit continues, Oher remains committed to reclaiming his narrative and ensuring that his story is told on his own terms.
