Tuohy attorneys: Michael Oher received $100K in 'The Blind Side' profits

Each member of the Tuohy family – including Michael Oher – received $100,000 from the profits of “The Blind Side,” the family’s attorneys said Wednesday.

That claim comes two days after the former Briarcrest Christian star and NFL offensive lineman filed a petition in Shelby County probate court seeking to end the conservatorship (agreed to in 2004) of his name and financial dealings with the Tuohys. Oher’s petition states he never received any money from the Academy Award-nominated film and that the Tuohys earned millions of dollars.

Attorneys Randy Fishman and Steven Farese Sr. – addressing local media from Ballin, Ballin & Fishman’s downtown Memphis office – indicated “a pretty simple (accounting) process” will soon debunk Oher’s claims. Neither Sean nor Leigh Anne Tuohy were on hand for Wednesday’s press conference. Martin Singer, the Los Angeles-based third member of their legal team, was also absent.

Michael Lewis, who wrote the book the film was based on, also told The Washington Post that the Tuohys have not gotten rich off the 2009 blockbuster.

“Everybody should be mad at the Hollywood studio system," Lewis said. “Michael Oher should join the writers strike. It’s outrageous how Hollywood accounting works, but the money is not in the Tuohys’ pockets.”

Lewis also said 20th Century Fox paid him $250,000 for the option to make the movie and that he split it with the Tuohys. He said his share worked out to about $70,000 after taxes. The Tuohys say they split their half evenly five ways between Sean, Leigh Anne, their two biological children (SJ and Collins) and Oher. That and the 2.5% of all future proceeds from the movie comes to about $500,000, which has been divvied up between all five people.

"That's correct," said Farese.

The central theme of Oher’s petition is the conservatorship and the fact that the Tuohys never adopted him, as he and many others were led to believe.

“Where other parents of Michael’s classmates saw Michael simply as a nice kid in need, Conservators Sean Tuohy and Leigh Anne Tuohy saw something else: a gullible young man whose athletic talent could be exploited for their own benefit,” the petition said.

“The Tuohys did not control any of Mr. Oher’s finances,” said Farese. “Mr. Oher picked his own agent. Mr. Oher signed his own contract, negotiated it through his agents. They don’t need his money. They’ve never needed his money.”

In the petition, Oher also contends he didn’t realize he was never legally adopted by the Tuohys until February 2023. Fishman, however, pointed out that Oher acknowledged the conservatorship in his 2011 book “I Beat the Odds: From Homelessness, to The Blind Side, and Beyond.”

When the conservatorship was signed, Oher was a high-profile recruit who was considering signing with Ole Miss. But, because Sean Tuohy was a booster for the school (where he played basketball from 1978-82), NCAA rules would have eliminated Ole Miss as a possibility for Oher. According to Fishman, the easiest way around that was for the Tuohys to make Oher “part of the family” before National Signing Day (February 2005).

“(The conservatorship) is the route they chose,” Fishman said.

Why has it taken until now to end the conservatorship?

“Frankly, nobody even thought about it,” Fishman said. “They were appointed conservator of the person. There was no estate for which to file accounting for. They have said on the record more than once, they’ll be glad to enter whatever order (he wants) to terminate the conservatorship.”

Fishman and Farese also doubled down on their claim that Oher has made previous threats toward the Tuohys "about what he would do unless they paid him an eight-figure windfall."

“Well, simply, we believe that to be correct and will be shown in court through text messages,” said Farese.

The Tuohys maintain they have only Oher's best interest at heart − even if that means dissolving the conservatorship.

“If that’s what he wants to do is terminate it, we’re glad to do so,” Fishman said. “Matter of fact, it’s our intent to offer to enter into a consent order as it relates to the conservatorship. Then, if they have any other issues, we’ll deal with them.”

Reach sports writer Jason Munz at jason.munz@commercialappeal.com or on Twitter @munzly.