"The Blind Side" adoption was a lie, Michael Oher alleges

SHAH ALAM - Former National Football League (NFL) player Michael Oher, the inspiration behind "The Blind Side," has accused the book and movie of being a lie.

The 2009 film portrayed Oher, who is Black, as growing up in poverty before being adopted by a wealthy white family and achieving NFL success.

The Guardian reported, in court documents filed in Tennessee, Oher claims Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy did not adopt him but instead deceived him into making them his conservators just after his 18th birthday.

"The petition claims that as conservators, the Tuohys were able to sign deals that earned them and their two birth children millions of dollars but excluded me from any of the income.

"The family earned millions in royalties from The Blind Side, which took more than $300m at the box office, but I got nothing for a story that would not have existed without me," Oher told The Guardian.

Oher seeks to end the conservatorship, halt the family's use of his name and image, and obtain compensation.

The movie's portrayal affected his career, he added.

"People look at me, and they take things away from me because of a movie.

"They don’t really see the skills and the kind of player I am.

"I was drafted by the Baltimore Ravens in the first-round of the 2009 draft, and I won a Super Bowl with the team in February 2013 in New Orleans, the hometown of Sean Tuohy and Blind Side author Michael Lewis."

However, Oher also played for the Carolina Panthers and Tennessee Titans, amassing a $34 million career earnings, with the lawsuit not alleging the Tuohys took any of his NFL income.