‘Blind Side’ Subject’s Conservatorship Terminated Amid Legal Fight Over Movie Profits

A Tennessee judge has terminated the conservatorship of Michael Oher, a retired NFL player whose life story was chronicled in The Blind Side, under the Memphis couple at the center of the movie who allegedly took financial advantage of him.

Shelby County Probate Court Judge Kathleen Gomes on Friday ended the agreement reached in 2004 when Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy allegedly tricked Oher into signing documents that appointed them as his conservators rather than his adoptive parents. Under the conservatorship, Oher claimed, he has been deprived of the rights to his name, image and likeness on top of millions of dollars the family got for signing away the rights to the book the film is based on.

This includes a deal with 20th Century Studios giving the Tuohys and their two children $225,000 and 2.5 percent of all future net proceeds from the movie, which has grossed over $300 million, according to a court petition. Oher has said he didn’t receive any of the proceeds. The agreement was already in place when Alcon Entertainment, which fully financed the movie, picked up the rights, according to a person familiar with the contract.

The case wasn’t dismissed. Oher has moved for the Tuohys to forfeit to him all the money, if any, they were paid for using the rights to his name and story. He seeks a full accounting of all records, which allegedly hasn’t been provided to the court, for breaches of fiduciary duty.

In response to Oher’s allegations, the Tuohys have accused the retired NFL player of fabricating the accusations to extort them out of $15 million and “drum up attention in the middle of his latest book tour.” They’ve also said that they willingly split proceeds from the movie with Oher, who refused the payments in what may have been a prelude to a lawsuit.

A lawyer for the Tuohys didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Conservatorships are typically reserved for people with disabilities who cannot manage their own finances. In 2004, a Tennessee judge granted the Tuohys’ petition to be appointed as Oher’s conservators after he found that the athlete was in “need of supervision, protection and assistance” and that he “should not be able to make contract decisions on his own.” They were named in that capacity until the court terminated the conservatorship.

Oher was among the top football prospects in the country when the Tuohys, a family he occasionally stayed with, invited him to live with them full-time as a senior in high school. He was allegedly presented with legal papers shortly after he moved in that he was told he needed to sign to initiate the adoption process. They were actually documents that gave the family “total control” over his ability to “negotiate for or enter any contract” despite having no physical or psychological disabilities, according to Oher’s petition.

Under the conservatorship, Oher lost the ability to handle his own financial and legal affairs, which he would’ve kept had he been adopted. His petition alleged he’s been deprived of the rights to his name, image and likeness. He pointed to an alleged deal negotiated by the family with 20th, signing away the perpetual and exclusive right to his brand and personal experiences without compensation. The signature on the document may have been forged, according to the petition, which noted that the Tuohys didn’t make any of the court-mandated disclosures.

“At no point did the Tuohys inform Michael that they would have ultimate control of all his contracts, and as a result Michael did not understand that if the Conservatorship was granted, he was signing away his right to contract for himself,” stated the filing. “Michael was falsely advised by the Tuohys that because he was over the age of eighteen, that the legal action to adopt Michael would have to be called a ‘conservatorship’ but it was, for all intents and purposes, an adoption.”