Tuohy family said Oher’s petition was hurtful and an attempt at shakedown

Michael Oher, the Tuohys and the Blind Side: When Your Back’s Against the Wall, Revisited

The Tuohys want to end their control over Michael Oher, an inspiration for The Blind Side, according to their lawyers.

Oher said Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy persuaded him to sign documents that agreed to the conservatorship nearly 20 years ago.

“The notion that a couple worth hundreds of millions of dollars would connive to withhold a few thousand dollars in profit participation payments from anyone – let alone from someone they loved as a son – defies belief,” Singer said in his statement.

The Tuohys hope Oher will apologize for his recent decisions and hopefully reconcile with them, said the family’s attorney.

“The Tuohys will not stand down, defend their good names, and defeat this lawsuit, in the meantime,” he said.

Attorneys for Oher didn’t respond to NPR’s request for comment. Don Barrett, one of Oher’s attorneys, told ESPN in a statement that they believe justice will be served in court.

The Tuohy’s established conservatorship was to be dissolved by the Shelby County, Tennessee, probate court after the former offensive lineman filed a petition Monday.

The 2004 filing says Oher wanted Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy to be his legal guardians until he turned 25, or until he had been terminated by a court.

Oher, who spoke to Mississippi Public Broadcasting on Monday about his new book, When Your Back’s Against the Wall, didn’t mention the petition in his interview. He briefly spoke positively about the Tuohys.

“The things I went through and had to do to go through to that point I went through from 3 years old to 18 when I moved in with the Tuohy family — who I’m grateful for letting me stay my senior year there. “You have to understand what it takes for me to get there,” Oher told MPB.

The 63-year-old restauranteur and sports commentator told the Memphis newspaper that he first heard of Oher’s petition when a friend sent him an article from ESPN, which reported the story.

Tuohy and the Blind Side: Michael Lewis & the Lost Lot of His Misfortuneous Monopoly Profits

Tuohy told The DailyMemphian that Michael Lewis gave half of the profits from The Blind Side to his family. Tuohy said each member of the family, including Oher, received an equal share of about $14,000.

We never asked for money. Tuohy told the newspaper that his money was well documented and that he could show you how much he sold his company for.