Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy, who took in former NFL star Michael Oher and inspired the film “The Blind Side,” have agreed to end Oher’s 19-year-conservatorship.
Thirty-seven-year-old Oher claimed the conservatorship allowed the couple to retain total legal authority over him, and accused them of making millions from being represented in the Oscar-award winning movie, according to The New York Post. Oher challenged the Memphis couple in court, citing that “The Bind Side” grossed $300 million at the box office, while alleging he has not earned a cent for himself, and officially petitioned for his emancipation.
The former Baltimore Ravens Super Bowl winner filed a petition in a Tennessee probate court Monday, accusing the Tuohys of tricking him into signing conservatorship papers that he claims to have been told were adoption papers, almost two decades ago. He asked for a full accounting of the money earned off the use of his name, including the blockbuster 2009 film, starring Sandra Bullock, and the novel that inspired the movie, in addition to the full termination of the conservatorship.
Randall Fishman, the lawyer for the the Tuohy family, confirmed his clients would enter into a consent order to end the conservatorship as part of a news conference on Wednesday.
To say they were devastated by this allegations is truly an understatement,” Fishman said, making reference to the Tuohy family.
He then defended his clients in the wake of Oher’s allegations against them.
“They would never do anything to deprive Michael of anything that was his,” he said. (RELATED: Fans Drag Sandra Bullock For Being Associated With ‘The Blind Side” Allegations)
Speaking of their reaction to the allegation, Fishman said “it’s gonna take them a while to turn around and to where they need to be.”
As for the conservatorship, Fishman stated, “if that’s what he wants to do, to terminate it, we’re glad to do so.”