The Blind Side Movie’s Conservatorship Ended Following Controversy

A Tennessee judge has officially ended the conservatorship between Michael Oher and Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy. According to AP (via Deadline), Shelby County Probate Court Judge Kathleen Gomes on Friday dissolved the conservatorship, noting that not only should it have never happened, but that it should have been dissolved much sooner. Oher, whose story was the subject of the film The Blind Side, had petitioned the court alleging that the Tuohy’s had tricked him into the conservatorship in order to gain legal authority over business deals in his name and have also deprived him of profits from the film. Oher was 18 at the time of the agreement and living with the family, though he had no conditions that would have generally been grounds for such a conservatorship.

“I cannot believe it got done,” Gomes said.

Gomes also is not dismissing Oher’s case against the Tuohys. Oher has asked for a full financial accounting of money that the Tuohys may have gained due to the agreement, alleging that they used his name, image, and likeness to make money as well as lied about adopting him.

The Tuohys counter Oher’s claims, claiming in a court filing that Oher called them “mom and dad” and that the conservatorship was merely a tool used to comply with NCAA rules to allow him to attend the University of Mississippi.

“When it became clear that the Petitioner could not consider going to the University of Mississippi (“Ole Miss”) as a result of living with the Respondents, the NCAA made it clear that he could attend Ole Miss if he was part of the Tuohy family in some fashion,” the Tuohys’ Sept. 14 court filing said.

Oher filed his case back in August and claims that, under the conservatorship, the Tuohys and their biological children earned millions from The Blind Side and that he had been paid nothing. His original petition alleged that three months after Oher turned 18 back in 2004, he was tricked into signing the conservatorship documents.

Released in 2009, The Blind Side film starred Sandra Bullock as Leigh Anne Tuohy. The film made more than $300 million at the box office and won numerous awards. Oher has previously spoken out about the film being inaccurate and heavily fictionalized. In his memoir, I Beat The Odds: From Homelessness to The Blind Side and Beyond, Oher particularly criticized the film for portraying him as “dumb”.

He wrote, “I felt like it [the movie] portrayed me as dumb instead of as a kid who had never had consistent academic instruction and ended up thriving once he got it.”

What do you think about the latest update in Oher’s case against the Tuohys? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section.