Former NFL star Michael Oher received $100,000 from the profits of “The Blind Side” — just like every other member of the Tuohy family, lawyers for the family claim.
Lawyers for the Tuohys made the claim just days after Oher, 37, filed a petition in a Tennessee probate court seeking to end the conservatorship with the family, who he says duped him into signing over the legal use his name in business deals.
The former Baltimore Ravens Super Bowl winner alleged the Tuohys used their conservatorship to make millions in royalties from the 2009 Oscar-nominated film while he didn’t earn a cent.
Tuohy family attorneys Randy Fishman and Steven Farese Sr. rejected Oher’s claims on Wednesday, telling reporters “a pretty simple (accounting) process” will soon debunk the allegations, The Tennessean reported.
Michael Lewis, who wrote the book the blockbuster was based on, told the Washington Post that the Memphis family had not gotten rich from the movie — and that he split the $250,000 he was paid by 20th Century Fox with the family.
Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy said they split their half of the deal evenly among the five members of the family, including Oher.
That and the 2.5% of all future proceeds from the movie, which equate to about $500,000, have also been split among Sean, Leigh Anne, their two biological children (SJ and Collins), and Oher, they said.
“Michael got every dime, every dime he had coming,” Fishman said.
“They don’t need his money. They’ve never needed his money. Mr. Tuohy sold his company for $220 million,” Farese added.
lawyersThe Tuohys’ attorneys told reporters the family did not get rich from the movie, which from which they split evenly among the family. AP
The Tuohys’ attorneys also contended that Oher was well aware he had never been adopted.
Fishman said the former football star mentioned that the couple were his conservators three times in “I Beat The Odds: From Homeless, To The Blind Side,” his 2011 memoir.