Photo: Roy Rochlin/Getty Images and John Shearer/Getty Images For Children Awaiting Parents
In a new update to Michael Oher‘s conservatorship case, a judge has officially ended the agreement between Oher — whose story inspired The Blind Side — and the Tuohy family. However, the situation isn’t completely said and done yet.
AP News reports Shelby County Probate Court Judge Kathleen Gomes made the decision on Friday (Sept. 29), terminating the agreement Oher made with Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy back in 2004.
According to Oher, the Tennessee couple asked him to sign the agreement when he was an 18-year-old football star. While Oher says he believed the agreement meant the family was adopting him, he accused the Tuohys of tricking him into signing a conservatorship for their own financial benefit.
PEOPLE reports that, by signing the conservatorship, Michael Oher wasn’t “allowed to enter into any contracts or bind himself without the direct approval of his conservators.”
Regarding the conservatorship agreement being approved, AP News reports Gomes as remarking, “I cannot believe it got done.”
Although Gomes ended the nearly two-decade-long conservatorship, she did not dismiss the overall case. Now, Oher is requesting a financial accounting of whatever money the Tuohys earned from the conservatorship. He’s also looking to receive whatever money he’s owed.
As The Shade Room reported, Michael Oher levied his allegations against the Tuohy family in mid-August.
According to ESPN, Oher’s legal petition accused Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy of “enrich[ing] themselves at the expense of their Ward.” The filing also reportedly notes that Michael Oher didn’t learn about the alleged trickery until February 2023.
“The lie of Michael’s adoption is one upon which Co-Conservators Leigh Anne Tuohy and Sean Tuohy have enriched themselves at the expense of their Ward, the undersigned Michael Oher. Michael Oher discovered this lie to his chagrin and embarrassment in February of 2023, when he learned that the Conservatorship to which he consented on the basis that doing so would make him a member of the Tuohy family, in fact provided him no familial relationship with the Tuohys.”
In response to the allegations, Sean Tuohy called the situation a “shakedown” in an effort to push back. The family’s lawyer, Martin Singer, told Entertainment Tonight that the family was nothing but supportive.
“In reality, the Tuohys opened their home to Mr. Oher, offered him structure, support, and, most of all, unconditional love. They have consistently treated him like a son and one of their three children.”
Furthermore, the attorney said the family finds the allegations “hurtful and absurd.”
