Michael Oher, NFL player who inspired The Blind Side, says biopic is based on a lie

American football star says his ‘adoptive’ family, whom he accuses of profiting from the movie, were in fact conservators with sweeping powers
Will Pavia
, New York
The Times
Quinton Aaron as Michael Oher and Sandra Bullock as Leigh Anne Tuohy in The Blind Side. Oher claims he did not receive royalties from the film
Quinton Aaron as Michael Oher and Sandra Bullock as Leigh Anne Tuohy in The Blind Side. Oher claims he did not receive royalties from the film
WARNER BROS
Will Pavia
, New York
The Times

In the 2009 film The Blind Side a wealthy white family from Memphis adopt a destitute black teenager named Michael Oher and set him on the path to stardom as an American football player.

The film was said to be “based on an extraordinary true story” and Sandra Bullock won an Oscar and a Golden Globe for her turn as Oher’s adoptive mother, Leigh Anne Tuohy.

Now Oher has filed a petition against Tuohy and her husband, Sean, alleging that a central part of the film’s story is a lie and accusing the couple of profiting from it without actually adopting him as their son.

Instead of an adoption process, he was persuaded to sign papers that appointed them as conservators with the power to