'The Blind Side' Controversy Explained
Michael Oher vs. The Tuohy Family
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Good morning,
The moon is about to get a bit crowded this week (well, by lunar standards).
The new space race: India and Russia are competing to be the first in the world to land on the south pole of the moon. That is where scientists believe there is ice.
Both countries’ missions are expected to land sometime in the next week. And, the US hopes to send humans there within 2-3 years.
Keep that in mind as you look up at the sky and cue up some Van Morrison….
Mosheh, Jill, & Courtney
🎙The Mo News Podcast: We talk about Mosheh’s reporting trip to the White House, a potentially major breakthrough when it comes to organ transplants, and the controversy over Bradley Cooper wearing a prosthetic nose.
🗞 ‘THE BLIND SIDE’ CONTROVERSY
It appears the feel good story behind the ‘The Blind Side’ is not all it was cracked up to be.
On Monday, ex-NFL star Michael Oher, the subject of the best-selling book and movie, filed a lawsuit against the Tuohy family. He claims that the couple lied about adopting him, and instead, tricked him into making them his conservators while making millions of dollars off his name.
Now the Tuohys are responding, saying that Oher tried to “shakedown” the couple for $15 million before he filed the petition.
THE BACK STORY
For context, ‘The Blind Side’ is a 2006 book by Michael Lewis that was made into an Oscar-winning film in 2009.
It’s inspired by Oher, a homeless Black teenager who was welcomed into the home of the Tuohys— a wealthy white family in Tennessee, who ultimately helped him launch his football career.
THE ACCUSATIONS & RESPONSES:
At this point, two sides are painting very different pictures of what happened. Notably, there are questions as to why Oher suddenly discovered this financial situation in his late 30s, after more than a decade in NFL—where he earned about $30 million over his career.
THE TUOHY’S ATTORNEY: In a statement issued to PEOPLE, Tuohy family attorney Martin Singer said that they "opened their home to Mr. Oher, offered him structure, support, and most of all, unconditional love…. His response was to threaten them, including saying that he would plant a negative story about them in the press unless they paid him $15 million."
The statement also alleged that "Mr. Oher has actually attempted to run this play several times before," but was "stopped" after the lawyers representing him "saw the evidence and learned the truth.” They say it is unfortunate he finally found lawyers who will attempt this case.
SEAN TUOHY: “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.”
OHER’S LEGAL TEAM PUSHES BACK: Representatives for Oher say in response, “We try cases in the courtroom based on the facts. We have confidence in our judicial system and in our client Michael Oher. We believe that justice will be served in the courtroom.”
WHO MADE MONEY FROM ‘THE BLIND SIDE’?
Oher claims that he never made a dollar from the film. His petition claims that the Tuohys used their power as conservators to strike make a deal that paid them and their two birth children millions of dollars in royalties from the film.
The Tuohys’ lawyer says Oher had received equitable payment around the film, saying: "They insisted that any money received be divided equally" and they “have made good on that pledge."
The family claims they have "always been upfront about" the details of his conservatorship, which was apparently "established to assist with Mr. Oher's needs, ranging from getting him health insurance and obtaining a driver's license to helping with college admissions."
Author Michael Lewis is also chiming in. In an interview, he says Hollywood is the only party that made real money off the film.
“Everybody should be made at the Hollywood studio system. Michael Oher should join the writers strike…the money is not in the Tuohys’ pockets.”
SANDRA BULLOCK REACTS:
Sandra Bullock portrayed Leigh Anne in the film and won an Oscar for the role. She’s reportedly “heartbroken” over Oher’s claims.
A source tells the Daily Mail: “She hates that such a wonderful story, a spectacular movie, and a spectacular time in her life now has been tainted. Now people won’t watch it and if they do, they will have a completely different reaction to its original intention.”
❝
I find myself hoping that the allegations aren’t true, that it’s all some sort of misunderstanding. At the time Oher moved into the Tuohy home, rumors were swirling of well-to-do White families adopting talented Black kids and persuading them to play sports at the parents’ alma maters. The NCAA investigation of this possibility is basically where the movie starts. The “feel good” aspect of Oher’s story is supposed to be that in this case, the love was real. If it all turns out to have been a sham — well, that’s about the saddest ending The Blind Side could have.
Stephen Carter, Bloomberg
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🗓 ON THIS DAY: AUGUST 17
1945: English author George Orwell published Animal Farm, an anti-utopian satire that became a classic.
1982: Philips produced the world's first CD.
1992: Andrew, the first named storm of the 1992 Atlantic hurricane season, formed in the Atlantic Ocean. Hurricane Andrew destroyed more than 50,000 homes and caused an estimated $26 billion in damage, making it at the time the most expensive natural disaster in United States history, surpassed by Hurricane Katrina 13 years later.
1998: President Bill Clinton, in a nationally televised address, admitted to having an inappropriate, sexual relationship with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky. He is impeached several months later.