The Tuohy Family Deny Receiving Millions Despite Michael Oher's Claims
Michael Oher filed a petition saying Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy never legally adopted him and made millions of his story. However in a new update, the family claims they never made nearly as much money as people think.
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00:00 Michael Oher, the subject of the acclaimed movie "The Blind Side" filed a petition
00:03 saying Sean and Leigh-Anne Toohey never legally adopted him and made millions off his story.
00:09 However, in a new update, the family claims they never made nearly as much money as people
00:13 think.
00:18 The Blind Side story continues to get even deeper.
00:21 The Tooheys have been publicly speaking out about their success story after the latest
00:25 allegations.
00:26 And now the family claims the film has not impacted them the way the public thinks it
00:30 did.
00:31 It's Daniel Wonder reporting with the details.
00:32 It all started when Michael Oher, the real-life subject of "The Blind Side" played football
00:37 at the University of Mississippi and was later drafted to the Baltimore Ravens in 2009.
00:42 The star filed a petition Monday claiming that Sean and Leigh-Anne Toohey did not legally
00:47 adopt him but instead tricked him into signing a conservatorship before earning what he claims
00:52 to be millions of dollars.
00:54 In the petition, Oher alleges that each member of the Toohey family were paid $225,000 for
01:00 the film plus an additional 2.5% of the film's proceeds.
01:04 And Michael claims he really just got nothing.
01:06 The Blind Side, which made over $300 million at the box office and went on to earn a nomination
01:11 for Best Picture at the 2010 Academy Awards, hit home for many people.
01:16 Stars like Sandra Bullock played a pivotal part in the story, with some online even saying
01:20 she herself should be removed of her award for her role in the film because of the controversy.
01:25 But now a source close to the film told People that the Toohey's only received $700,000 total
01:30 in rights, payments and profits, which was intended to be divided between the family
01:35 members Sean, Leigh-Anne and their two biological children, and of course, Oher.
01:40 The source went on to note that Toohey's have not received millions of dollars from the
01:43 movie.
01:44 They have not even received $1 million from the movie.
01:47 Now Marty Singer, who is representing the family, also went on to deny Oher's claims
01:50 as well.
01:51 The representative mentioned, "When Michael Lewis, a friend of Sean's since childhood,
01:56 was approached about turning his book on Mr. Oher and the Toohey's into a movie about their
02:01 family, his agents negotiated a deal where they received a small advance from the production
02:06 company and a tiny percentage of net profits.
02:09 They insisted that any money received be divided equally, and they have made good on that pledge."
02:14 In the petition, Oher also claims that he unknowingly authorized the couple to be his
02:19 conservators back in 2004, but the representative is also stating otherwise.
02:24 According to the petition, the paper signed gave the Toohey's "total control over Oher's
02:29 ability to sign contracts."
02:30 His filing claimed that the Toohey's have "falsely and publicly represented themselves
02:35 as Oher's adoptive parents and enriched themselves in doing so."
02:39 Now the Toohey family fought back on these claims stating that the conservatorship had
02:43 to happen due to Oher being over the age of 18 and the inability to adopt him in the past
02:48 in any other way.
02:49 The conservatorship was allegedly the only way the family could assist Oher in his journey
02:53 to play football at a collegiate level.
02:56 The family attorney added in a statement, "In spite of the false allegation in the
02:59 lawsuit, the Toohey's have always been upfront about how a conservatorship, from which not
03:04 one penny was received, was established to assist with Mr. Oher's needs, ranging from
03:09 getting him health insurance and obtaining a driver's license, to helping him with
03:13 college admissions.
03:14 Should Mr. Oher wish to terminate the conservatorship, either now or any time in the future, the
03:18 Toohey's will never oppose it in any way."
03:21 We'll keep you updated on any more claims that come from this story at What's Trending.
03:24 Thanks for watching.
03:28 (thunder)