Sean Tuohy denies cutting Michael Oher out of 'The Blind Side' money after allegation | Report
Sean Tuohy has denied claims levied by Michael Oher — the subject of "The Blind Side" as a former Ole Miss football All-American and Super Bowl champion — in a petition in Shelby County court on Monday. Oher is petitioning to end a conservatorship by the Tuohy family and is seeking financial considerations, alleging he was cut out of the profits from the movie franchise that reportedly grossed more than $300 million.
Oher's petition alleges that the Tuohys, who took him in as a high school student, tricked him into signing a conservatorship, granting them authority to make business deals using his name. The Tuohys are alleged to have told him the papers signed were needed to adopt him.
The Tuohys never adopted Oher, the petition says.
Sean Tuohy — a former standout basketball player at Ole Miss for whom the Rebels' practice facility is named — claimed his family did not cut Oher out of the movie profits.
“We didn’t make any money off the movie,” Tuohy said in an interview with The Daily Memphian. “Well, Michael Lewis (the author of the book ‘The Blind Side’) gave us half of his share. Everybody in the family got an equal share, including Michael. It was about $14,000 each."
Oher alleged in his petition that the Tuohys negotiated a one-time payment of $225,000, as well as 2.5% of the movie's proceeds for themselves and their two natural-born children.
Sean Tuohy, who reportedly sold his fast-food franchise company for $213 million, claimed that he didn't need money from "The Blind Side."
“The last thing I needed was 40 grand from a movie,” he said . “I will say it’s upsetting that people would think I would want to make money off any of my children.”
Tuohy said that because the NCAA considered him an Ole Miss booster, the conservatorship was necessary for Oher to attend Ole Miss. He played for the Rebels from 2005 to 2008.
“Michael was obviously living with us for a long time, and the NCAA didn’t like that,” Tuohy said. “They said the only way Michael could go to Ole Miss was if he was actually part of the family. I sat Michael down and told him, ‘If you’re planning to go to Ole Miss — or even considering Ole Miss — we think you have to be part of the family. This would do that, legally.’
"We contacted lawyers who had told us that we couldn’t adopt over the age of 18; the only thing we could do was to have a conservatorship. We were so concerned it was on the up-and-up that we made sure the biological mother came to court.”
SJ SPEAKS: Tuohy biological son on former football player Michael Oher's allegations: 'I get it, why he's mad'
Tuohy said he'd be willing to end the conservatorship.
“We’re devastated,” he said. “It’s upsetting to think we would make money off any of our children. But we’re going to love Michael at 37 just like we loved him at 16.”
David Eckert covers Ole Miss for the Clarion Ledger. Email him at deckert@gannett.com or reach him on Twitter @davideckert98.
This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Sean Tuohy denies cutting Michael Oher out of 'The Blind Side' money
