Tuohy Family Accuses Michael Oher of $15 Million Extortion Attempt

Image Courtesy of CBS News

By Noah Slayter

Subjects of the 2009 film “The Blind Side”, the Tuohy family, has accused their purportedly adopted son, NFL player Michael Oher, of extorting $15 million from them. 

In legal documents that were filed on Monday the 4th, Sean and Leigh-Ann Tuohy claim Oher sent them text messages blackmailing the couple into giving him money or else he would tell the media that he was abused by the couple. Oher was seeking a temporary injunction against the couple, which is an order prohibiting certain actions relevant to a court case. 

In this situation, it would be collecting profit from Oher’s likeness and name. The messages filed in the Shelby County Probate Court of Tennessee purport that Oher called the Tuohy’s “thieves”and that he “was robbed of 50+ million, 10 million is my final offer.” Further texts say he would go to the press if the couple would not give him the millions according to ABC News. 

The filings come as a Judge on September 29th ended the conservatorship the Tuohys had over Oher. The Football tackle has claimed the Tuohys told him they had adopted Oher when they had, unbeknownst to him, signed onto the conservatorship which kept millions of dollars from him. 

The case remains unfinished, issues of due payments from the Tuohys and false signatures still abound. The Tuohys “vehemently deny” that they had any malicious intent regarding the conservatorship and were willing to annul it at any time.

Oher’s petition to end the conservatorship wrote, “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 Tuohys claim money made was never denied by him. Based on court documents the couple provided, the money from the 2009 Oscar-winning film was divided equally between the couple, Oher, and the Tuohy’s two biological children. This meant Oher was paid $138,311.01 from film profits. Additionally, the couple claims they did not receive any money from the conservatorship.