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Topics: Michael Oher, US News
Jess Hardiman
Topics: Michael Oher, US News
A judge has ruled to end the conservatorship of former NFL player Michael Oher, who claimed Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy's adoption was a lie.
Shelby County Probate Court Judge Kathleen Gomes said she is terminating the agreement, which was reached in 2004 and allowed the Tuohys to control Oher’s finances.
The athlete - whose story inspired 2009 Sandra Bullock movie The Blind Side - petitioned a Tennessee court with allegations that a central element of the film's plot was 'concocted by the family to enrich themselves at his expense' - namely, his adoption.
Oher claimed that the adoption never actually took place and that Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy simply 'tricked him' into signing a document making them his conservators.
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This, in turn, allowed the pair to have legal authority to make business deals in his name.
The Tuohys and their two birth children went on to receive '$225,000' plus '2.5%' of the film's 'defined net proceeds'.
The Oscar-winning movie ended up reportedly locking up more than $300 million at the box office, while Oher himself supposedly received nothing - despite the fact the story 'would not have existed without him'.
A legal filing from Shelby County, Tennessee, probate court, said: "The lie of Michael's adoption is one upon which Co Conservators Leigh Anne Tuohy and Sean Tuohy have enriched themselves at the expense of their Ward, the undersigned Michael Oher.
"Michael Oher discovered this lie to his chagrin and embarrassment in February of 2023, when he learned that the Conservatorship to which he consented on the basis that doing so would make him a member of the Tuohy family, in fact provided him no familial relationship with the Tuohys."
Tennessee judge Gomes has now ruled to end the controversial conservatorship, saying she was disturbed that such an agreement was ever reached.
According to the Associated Press, she said that, in her 43-year career, she had never seen a conservatorship agreement reached with someone who was not disabled.
“I cannot believe it got done,” Gomes said.
In Tennessee, a conservatorship - which involves the removal power from someone to make decisions for themselves - is often used in the case of disability or a medical condition.
However, in Oher's case, it was approved 'despite the fact that he was over 18 years old and had no diagnosed physical or psychological disabilities', as his petition argued.