Post by Blitz on Aug 15, 2023 8:06:31 GMT -5
MICHAEL OHER SUES FAMILY IN ‘BLIND SIDE’ PROFITS DISPUTE
BY MICHAEL MCCANN - August 14, 2023 3:58pm
www.sportico.com/law/analysis/2023/michael-oher-the-blind-side-adoptive-family-lie-1234734232/
Michael Oher, the former NFL player whose life story was featured in The Blind Side, claims in new court filing he was duped by the family who took him in. STREETER LECKA/GETTY IMAGES
Former NFL player Michael Oher, whose life story was featured in the best-selling book The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game, written by Michael Lewis, and the Academy Award-nominated film The Blind Side, is taking the couple who took him in—but allegedly not as his adoptive parents—to court.
Oher, now 37, accuses Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy of duping him when he was 18 years old, which is old enough to sign a binding contract under Tennessee law, into signing a conservator agreement that gave them legal authority over his name, image and likeness. Oher further claims he never received compensation from the movie, which grossed $309 million on a $29 million budget, and that the Tuohys never actually adopted him.
The accusations are part of a petition Oher filed in a Tennessee probate court on Monday, according to ESPN.
Last Tuesday Oher’s new book, When Your Back’s Against the Wall, co-authored by Don Yaeger, was released by Penguin Random House.
Oher demands several remedies, including that a court end the Tuohys’ conservatorship, that the Tuohys be enjoined from using his NIL going forward and that they pay him his share of profits and for compensatory and punitive damages.
Oher—who played eight seasons in the NFL and, per Spotrac, earned more than $34 million—claims that while the Tuohys and their two birth children contracted to receive 2.5% of the film’s net proceeds, Oher in 2007 (when he was an adult, either 20 or 21) signed an agreement with 20th Century Fox Studios to turn over his life rights for no compensation.
The Tuohys will have an opportunity to contest the allegations. Expect them to dispute Oher’s retelling, which appears to conflict with Oher’s characterizations in his 2011 book, I Beat the Odds: From Homelessness, to The Blind Side, and Beyond. That book describes the Touhys as Oher’s “adoptive family.” The Touhys invited him to live with them while he was in high school and hired a tutor to help him with his studies. Oher, whose biological parents had drug and legal problems, spent much of his childhood in foster care or homeless.
The Tuohys, who previously claimed they shared earnings from the movie with Oher, could also challenge the description of the alleged contract Oher signed with 20th Century Fox Studios. The contract would only be enforceable if there were consideration, meaning the studio giving something in return.
Oher also would have been an adult and college student at Ole Miss—and not a minor—when signing the contract. The Tuohys might contend that if Oher has a valid claim for that contract, it ought to be for malpractice against his representative.
There are a number of people who are likely relevant witnesses in this litigation. Oher’s representatives, both before he played in the NFL and during it as he signed employment contracts and endorsement deals, could shed light on whether the Tuohys controlled his finances. According to ESPN, Oher’s agent for the movie contract was one of their close family friends.
BY MICHAEL MCCANN - August 14, 2023 3:58pm
www.sportico.com/law/analysis/2023/michael-oher-the-blind-side-adoptive-family-lie-1234734232/
Michael Oher, the former NFL player whose life story was featured in The Blind Side, claims in new court filing he was duped by the family who took him in. STREETER LECKA/GETTY IMAGES
Former NFL player Michael Oher, whose life story was featured in the best-selling book The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game, written by Michael Lewis, and the Academy Award-nominated film The Blind Side, is taking the couple who took him in—but allegedly not as his adoptive parents—to court.
Oher, now 37, accuses Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy of duping him when he was 18 years old, which is old enough to sign a binding contract under Tennessee law, into signing a conservator agreement that gave them legal authority over his name, image and likeness. Oher further claims he never received compensation from the movie, which grossed $309 million on a $29 million budget, and that the Tuohys never actually adopted him.
The accusations are part of a petition Oher filed in a Tennessee probate court on Monday, according to ESPN.
Last Tuesday Oher’s new book, When Your Back’s Against the Wall, co-authored by Don Yaeger, was released by Penguin Random House.
Oher demands several remedies, including that a court end the Tuohys’ conservatorship, that the Tuohys be enjoined from using his NIL going forward and that they pay him his share of profits and for compensatory and punitive damages.
Oher—who played eight seasons in the NFL and, per Spotrac, earned more than $34 million—claims that while the Tuohys and their two birth children contracted to receive 2.5% of the film’s net proceeds, Oher in 2007 (when he was an adult, either 20 or 21) signed an agreement with 20th Century Fox Studios to turn over his life rights for no compensation.
The Tuohys will have an opportunity to contest the allegations. Expect them to dispute Oher’s retelling, which appears to conflict with Oher’s characterizations in his 2011 book, I Beat the Odds: From Homelessness, to The Blind Side, and Beyond. That book describes the Touhys as Oher’s “adoptive family.” The Touhys invited him to live with them while he was in high school and hired a tutor to help him with his studies. Oher, whose biological parents had drug and legal problems, spent much of his childhood in foster care or homeless.
The Tuohys, who previously claimed they shared earnings from the movie with Oher, could also challenge the description of the alleged contract Oher signed with 20th Century Fox Studios. The contract would only be enforceable if there were consideration, meaning the studio giving something in return.
Oher also would have been an adult and college student at Ole Miss—and not a minor—when signing the contract. The Tuohys might contend that if Oher has a valid claim for that contract, it ought to be for malpractice against his representative.
There are a number of people who are likely relevant witnesses in this litigation. Oher’s representatives, both before he played in the NFL and during it as he signed employment contracts and endorsement deals, could shed light on whether the Tuohys controlled his finances. According to ESPN, Oher’s agent for the movie contract was one of their close family friends.