Michael Oher.Photo:Scott Boehm/AP Photo
Scott Boehm/AP Photo
“Everybody should be mad at the Hollywood studio system,” the writer told thePost. “Michael Oher should jointhe writers' strike. It’s outrageous how Hollywood accounting works, but the money is not in the Tuohys’ pockets.”
The Blind Side movie scene.Everett
“What I feel really sad about is I watched the whole thing up close,” Lewis told thePost. “They showered him with resources and love. That he’s suspicious of them is breathtaking. The state of mind one has to be in to do that — I feel sad for him.”
On Monday, Oher filed apetition to end a conservatorship, claiming he found out in February 2023 that the Tuohys never legally adopted him, “much to his chagrin and embarrassment.” Instead, he claims they tricked him into signing paperwork that placed him in a conservatorship at 18 years old. The 2004 conservatorship filing stated that he “shall not be allowed to enter into any contracts or bind himself without the direct approval of his conservators," according to Oher’s filing.
Leigh Anne Tuohy, Sandra Bullock.D Dipasupil/FilmMagic; Warner Bros Pictures/Kobal/Shutterstock
D Dipasupil/FilmMagic; Warner Bros Pictures/Kobal/Shutterstock
In hisPostinterview, Lewis claimedthat once agent fees and taxes were taken out of his and the Tuohy’s cut, he and the Tuohy family received around $350,000 each from the profits of the film. The author said the Tuohys planned to share the royalties, but Oher declined. Lewis claimed he was under the impression that the family deposited Oher’s share in a trust fund forthe former Baltimore Ravens star’s son.
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Michael Oher at 2009 NFL Draft.Jeff Zelevansky/Getty
Jeff Zelevansky/Getty
On Wednesday, a source close to the filmtold PEOPLEthe Tuohys have received approximately $700,000 total in rights, payments and profits, which was intended to be divided between the family members — Sean, Leigh Anne, their two biological children and Oher.
In a statement, theTuohy family’s lawyer, Martin Singer, saidthat “when Michael Lewis, a friend of Sean’s since childhood, was approached about turning his book on Mr. Oher and the Tuohys into a movie about their family, his agents negotiated a deal where they received a small advance from the production company and a tiny percentage of net profits,” “They insisted that any money received be divided equally.”
Singer claimed the Tuohys “have made good on that pledge” to divide the profits equally. The lawyer also claimed that “evidence” will show that the family has “given Mr. Oher an equal cut of every penny received from,” which was “documented in profit participation checks and studio accounting statements.”
In response to the Tuohy family lawyers’ allegations, Oher’s team responded Wednesday with a statement of solidarity.
“We continue to stand with Michael and the statement he released,” representatives for Oher said in a statement to PEOPLE. “We also concur with his attorney, Don Barrett, we believe that justice will be served in a courtroom where cases are based on facts.”
During a press conference in Memphis Wednesday, attorneys for the Tuohyssaid they would be willing to release him from the conservatorship.
“If that’s what he wants to do is terminate it, we’re glad to do so,” said attorney Randall Fishman. “As a matter of fact, it is our intent to offer to enter into a consent order as it relates to the conservatorship, and then if they have other issues, we’ll deal with them.”
source: people.com
