Michael Oher, Tuohy Family Conservatorship Agreement Ended by Judge amid Controversy

A Tennessee judge has ended the conservatorship agreement between Michael Oher and the Tuohy family that allowed Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy to control the former NFL tackle's finances, according to ESPN.

Oher filed a petition in Shelby County, Tennessee, probate court in August alleging that the Tuohy family, who took him into their home as a high school student, never actually adopted him.

When Oher turned 18 in 2004, Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy allegedly tricked Oher into signing paperwork that made them his conservators, giving them legal authorization to control his finances and make business deals in his name.

The petition also alleged that the Tuohys used their conservatorship to reach an agreement that paid them and their two birth children millions in royalties from the Oscar-winning film The Blind Side, which made more than $309 million at the box office.

Oher claimed that he got nothing from the film, which he said "would not have existed without him."

The Tuohys have continued to profit off Oher in the years since the film's release, calling him their son and using that to promote Leigh Anne Tuohy's work as an author and motivational speaker.

The legal filing stated:

"The lie of Michael's adoption is one upon which Co-Conservators Leigh Anne Tuohy and Sean Tuohy have enriched themselves at the expense of their Ward, the undersigned Michael Oher. Michael Oher discovered this lie to his chagrin and embarrassment in February of 2023, when he learned that the Conservatorship to which he consented on the basis that doing so would make him a member of the Tuohy family, in fact provided him no familial relationship with the Tuohys."

The Tuohys made a legal filing earlier this month stating they "never signed any contract" on Oher's behalf since he was placed in their care and only formed the conservatorship to hopefully "skirt NCAA rules that might have penalized Oher for playing football at the University of Mississippi," where they were donors.

They added that Oher had received the money that was owed to him from The Blind Side film and also acknowledged that they wanted the conservatorship to end.

Oher, now 37, played for Ole Miss from 2005-08 and was a unanimous All-American in his final season before being selected by the Baltimore Ravens in the first round of the 2009 draft.

Oher spent five seasons with the Ravens from 2009-13, helping the franchise capture a Super Bowl XLVII title in 2013. He also spent the 2014 season with the Tennessee Titans and spent the final two years of his career with the Carolina Panthers from 2015-16.