‘The Blind Side’ producers discredit Michael Oher’s million-dollar allegations against the Tuohy family

It’s been 10 days since Michael Oher, the former NFL football player whose life story inspired The Blind Side, alleged he was never paid what he was owed and that Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy, portrayed by Tim McGraw and Sandra Bullock in the movie, never actually adopted him. The production company that financially funded the Oscar-winning movie has now come forward to discredit Oher’s claims, revealing the exact amount that was paid out to the Tuohy family, and it’s not in the millions as Oher previously declared. 

In a statement to People magazine, Alcon Entertainment’s co-CEOs Broderick Johnson and Andrew Kosove asserted that, unlike Oher’s allegations, the Tuohy family was not paid millions of dollars for lending Oher’s life story to the film. Instead, the exact amount totaled around $767,000, which was negotiated by the Tuohy family and 20th Century Fox. 

“The notion that the Tuohys were paid millions of dollars by Alcon to the detriment of Michael Oher is false.”

In his legal filing in Shelby County, Tennessee on Aug. 14, Oher claimed Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy, along with their two children, were paid $250,000 each plus 2.5% of the film’s net proceeds, totaling well over $1 million when factoring in the $309.2 million the film earned at the box office. 

Contrary to Oher’s allegations, Sean Tuohy maintains that the Tuohy family “didn’t make any money off the movie,” according to ESPN, only a share of the profits from Michael Lewis’ book upon which the motion picture film was based. 

“We’re devastated. It’s upsetting to think we would make money off any of our children. But we’re going to love Michael at 37 just like we loved him at 16.”

At the heart of Oher’s petition is the request to overturn the conservatorship he says he was tricked into entering at 18 years and prohibit the Tuohy’s from using his name and likeliness for further profit. According to The New York Times, Leigh Anne Tuohy has charged $30,000 to $50,000 for motivational speaking appearances and has profited more than $1 million from the Making It Happen Foundation, whose mission is to help children who “fall through the cracks of society.”

At the heart of The Blind Side was the storyline of Oher’s adoption by the Tuohy family. However, since Oher’s legal filing, the legitimacy of the awards the film won at that year’s Oscars has been called into question, rightfully or not. In time we know the full truth about what happened, but in the meantime, you can rest assured that it’s not what you see in The Blind Side.