“This teacher of my children will think their old man an ignoramus because they fail to understand him?” “Could this be the reason behind their ignorance?”
According to the lawsuit, the Tuohys made about $8 million (or C$10m) out of his name and likeness which were used in various speaking engagements and other events. He informed the court that Sean as well as Leigh Anne profited millions by telling people that they used to adopt Oher which was not true.
Oher recalled in this way: “Sean and Leigh Anne first said I love you to me”. At such a time, you feel defenseless when you are 18 years old. You tend to remove all barriers just before everything gets taken away from you therefore you end up getting hurt.
Oher added: “Not trying to make a racial issue out of it, I discovered that nobody yells “I love you” like coaches or white men do. But when Black people do it, they are serious about it.”
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According to them, the Tuohys had never planned on adopting Oher but were using him as a kind of a father figure just like most people do informally speak about their sons or daughters whom they didn’t give life to biologically.
Oher has been accused of wow executing a “shakedown” to extort $15m (or more than $20.4m CAD) from them. Sean and Leigh Anne said that he previously threatened them by saying he would destroy their reputation if they did not send him any amount of money.
A spokesperson for New York Times Magazine has said that Sean as well as Leigh Anna’s lawsuit is full with “ridiculous allegations.”
“The notion that the Tuohys have ever benefited from Mr. Oher is not only insulting, but also patently ludicrous,” said the spokesperson for Oher.
Both in real life and in The Blind Side as a movie, the Tuohys assisted Oher to obtain a driver’s license, purchase a car and arranged tutoring that made him eligible to play college football. Before moving in with the Tuohy family at eighteen years old, Oher had lived in foster care, shelters and was at times without a home.
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Even during the time when he was suing them, Oher referred to his living with the Tuohys as a time of great joy; he has a place to sleep and good food all around him.
During their time together, the Tuhoys asked for a conservatorship over Oher which was granted by courts. While Tennessee law stipulates that conservatorship must be given on account of physical or mental disabilities, the Tuohys maintained that Oher did not have any such disabilities.
Last year Tennessee Probate Court judge Kathleen Gomes terminated the conservatorship but stated that she had never seen any in her experience for an unaffected person. The Tuohys did not dispute this dissolution.
For making The Blind Side movie, they paid Oher a sum of US$138,000 (about C$188,000). According to court documents filed by the Tuohys, this was the amount left after equally dividing it five ways with Oher, Sean Leigh Anne and their two children.
The Blind Side hit cinemas in 2009. This movie went on to be nominated as best picture at the Oscars and it won an Academy Award for Sandra Bullock as Leigh Anne.
According to Oher, the inaccuracies in that movie have aggravated the heartbreak he was feeling at the start of his NFL career in 2009 yet his past, character and legacy were already “defined” by this film.
He has insisted that he did not sue Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy because he wants their money.
Oher remarked: “I have got millions;” adding, “I’m alright.”
The legal battle continues.
