‘The Blind Side’ parents say they never intended to adopt Michael Oher

Michael Oher, whose life served as inspiration for the film 'The Blind Side,' accused Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy of using a conservatorship to gain control of his finances.

Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy have hit back at Michael Oher, claiming there was “never an intent to adopt him” despite the former NFL player’s bombshell lawsuit alleging he was tricked into entering a conservatorship.

The Tuohy couple filed their response to Oher’s lawsuit on Thursday in the Shelby County Probate Court in Tennessee. In the legal filing, the Tuohys said they “are ready, willing, and able” to end Oher’s conservatorship.

Oher, whose life served as inspiration for the book and film The Blind Side, filed a lawsuit against the Tuohys that accused them of using a conservatorship to gain control of his finances. He claimed Sean and Leigh Anne have made “millions” profiting off his name and story since the Oscar-winning movie was released in 2009. Oher has never been a fan of the movie about his life.

In the new filing, the Tuohys, both 63, “vehemently deny” that they ever told Oher, 37, he would be adopted.

They note that though they “occasionally” called Oher “son,” the word was always used “in the colloquial sense.” The Tuohys said they have always felt Oher was like a son to them, just not in a legal sense. The couple does not believe calling Oher “son” ever caused him “any irreparable harm,” as he claimed in his own lawsuit.

They asked the court to dismiss Oher’s request for financial compensation. Oher also asked for the Tuohys to file a fulsome accounting of his finances, which the couple admitted they have never done.

The Tuohys have maintained they established a conservatorship when he was 18 to help Oher obtain health insurance and a driver’s licence and be admitted to college. They said the conservatorship allowed Oher to skirt NCAA rules that may have impeded his ability to play football for the University of Mississippi, where the Tuohys were donors.

In his lawsuit, Oher said he did not know about the conservatorship until February 2023. The Tuohy couple claimed Oher was aware of the arrangement and pointed to his 2011 memoir I Beat The Odds as proof, since Oher referred to the Tuohys as his “legal conservators.”