Writer Michael Lewis revisited the Michael Oher saga in a current interview as a decide in Tennessee agreed to finish the conservatorship between the previous NFL participant and a Tennessee couple.
Lewis chronicled Oher’s journey within the e book “The Blind Facet: Evolution of a Sport,” which was later tailored right into a film starring Sandra Bullock. Oher’s life was again within the highlight in August when he claimed Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy lied about adopting him and alleged the household used his title, picture and likeness to complement themselves.
The creator initially pinned the blame on the “Hollywood studio system” in an interview with The Washington Publish when it got here to the financials from the e book and the film. However as he promoted his new e book about Sam Bankman-Fried in an interview with The Guardian, he appeared to alter his tune.
Michael Lewis, creator of “The Premonition: A Pandemic Story” and “Liar’s Poker,” seems on the Hay Pageant in Hay-on-Wye, Wales, on June 5, 2022. (David Levenson/Getty Photos)
Lewis maintained that the Tuohys didn’t make tens of millions of {dollars} from “The Blind Facet” and “insisted” the lineman wouldn’t have made it to the NFL if it weren’t for the household’s assist, in keeping with The Guardian. The creator recalled Oher being shy when he wrote about him after which speculated on him amid the lawsuit.
“What we’re watching is a change of conduct. That is what occurs to soccer gamers who get hit within the head: they run into issues with violence and aggression,” Lewis advised the outlet.
He recommended additional there could also be a mixture of Oher’s historical past within the sport together with different outdoors elements telling him this was the appropriate time to file the lawsuit in opposition to the Tuohy household.
A rep for Oher did not instantly reply to Fox Information Digital’s request for remark.
Lewis’ newest remarks got here as Shelby County Probate Courtroom Decide Kathleen Gomes stated final week she was terminating the conservatorship between Oher and the Tuohys. A conservatorship in Tennessee is usually used when there’s a medical situation or incapacity, per The Related Press. Gomes stated she has by no means seen a conservatorship settlement reached with somebody who just isn’t disabled.
Whereas Gomes is ending the conservatorship settlement, the decide just isn’t dismissing the case.
In August, Oher, the inspiration behind the 2009 Academy Award-winning movie “The Blind Facet,” alleged in a petition filed in a Tennessee court docket that he was by no means legally adopted by the Tuohy household, however relatively tricked right into a conservatorship that solely benefited the household.
“The lie of Michael’s adoption is one upon which Co-Conservators Leigh Anne Tuohy and Sean Tuohy have enriched themselves on the expense of their Ward, the undersigned Michael Oher,” the doc learn.
Michael Oher visits SiriusXM Studios in New York Metropolis on Aug. 9, 2023. (Roy Rochlin/Getty Photos)
“Michael Oher found this misinform his chagrin and embarrassment in February of 2023, when he realized that the Conservatorship to which he consented on the premise that doing so would make him a member of the Tuohy household, in actual fact supplied him no familial relationship with the Tuohys.”
MICHAEL OHER SAYS ‘THE BLIND SIDE’ DIDN’T PORTRAY WORK ETHIC PRIOR TO JOINING TUOHY FAMILY
The Tuohy household invited Oher to dwell with them in 2004. The submitting alleges that quickly after shifting in, the household introduced him with the conservatorship, which he understood as a type of authorized adoption.
Oher’s petition sought to finish the conservatorship and bar them from utilizing his title and likeness. It additionally seeks to have Oher obtain a share of income based mostly on the earnings the household purportedly made off his title.
The petition additionally alleged that whereas the Tuohys benefited considerably from “The Blind Facet,” Oher didn’t.
The Carolina Panthers’ Michael Oher speaks to the media in Charlotte, North Carolina, on April 20, 2015. (AP Picture/Chuck Burton, File)
In September, Tuohys’ legal professionals denied in court docket paperwork that they used a authorized settlement between them and Oher to get wealthy at his expense and lied about aspiring to undertake him.
The household stated they liked Oher like a son and supplied him with meals, shelter, clothes and vehicles whereas he lived with them. They denied saying they meant to legally undertake him.
The Tuohys’ submitting stated Oher did confer with Sean and Leigh Anne as “mother” and “dad” whereas they referred to Oher as their son. In addition they acknowledged that different web sites confirmed them referring to Oher as an adoptive son, however stated the time period was used “within the colloquial sense they usually have by no means meant that reference to be considered with authorized implication.”
The household stated the conservatorship was the device chosen to adjust to NCAA guidelines that may have stored Oher from attending Ole Miss, the college the place Sean Tuohy performed basketball. The submitting stated the NCAA “made it clear that he may attend Ole Miss if he was a part of the Tuohy household in some style.
The Tuohys added that Oher lied about discovering out that he was not adopted in February and pointed to the previous NFL participant’s 2011 e book “I Beat the Odds,” which indicated he was conscious the Tuohys had been appointed as conservators relatively than adoptive dad and mom.
Michael Lewis wrote “The Blind Facet.” (Getty Photos)
Oher was chosen with the twenty third decide of the 2009 NFL Draft by the Baltimore Ravens, the place he performed his first 5 NFL seasons. Oher went on to play for 2 extra groups in his eight-year profession.
Fox Information’ Joe Morgan contributed to this report.