Current:Home > ScamsJudge ending conservatorship between ex-NFL player Michael Oher and couple who inspired "The Blind Side" -WealthTrail Solutions
Judge ending conservatorship between ex-NFL player Michael Oher and couple who inspired "The Blind Side"
View
Date:2025-04-24 22:53:24
A Tennessee judge said Friday she is ending a conservatorship agreement between former NFL player Michael Oher and a Memphis couple who took him in when he was in high school. The story was the inspiration behind the 2009 Sandra Bullock film "The Blind Side."
In a court order obtained by CBS News, Shelby County Probate Court Judge Kathleen Gomes said she is terminating the agreement reached in 2004 that allowed Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy to control Oher's finances. Oher signed the agreement when he was 18 and living with the couple as he was being recruited by colleges as a star high school football player.
Gomes said she was not dismissing the case. Oher has asked that the Tuohys provide a financial accounting of money that may have come to them as part of the agreement, claiming that they used his name, image and likeness to enrich themselves and lied to him that the agreement meant the Tuohys were adopting him.
Gomes said she was disturbed that such an agreement was ever reached. She said she had never seen in her 43-year career a conservatorship agreement reached with someone who was not disabled.
"I cannot believe it got done," she said.
Oher and the Tuohys listened in by video conference call, but did not speak.
Sean Tuohy — who was portrayed by Tim McGraw in the blockbuster hit — said last month that Oher's allegations aren't true.
"We didn't make any money off the movie," he told the Daily Memphian. "Well, Michael Lewis [the author of the book that inspired the movie] gave us half of his share. Everybody in the family got an equal share, including Michael. It was about $14,000, each."
"They said the only way Michael could go to Ole Miss was if he was actually part of the family," Tuohy said, adding that because Oher was 18 at the time, the conservatorship was a way to make that happen legally since he was too old to be legally adopted. "...We contacted lawyers who had told us that we couldn't adopt over the age of 18; the only thing we could do was to have a conservatorship. We were so concerned it was on the up-and-up that we made sure the biological mother came to court."
- In:
- Conservatorship
- Tennessee
- Memphis
veryGood! (22)
Related
- Drones warned New York City residents about storm flooding. The Spanish translation was no bueno
- Khloe Kardashian's Kids True and Tatum and Niece Dream Kardashian Have an Adorable PJ Dance Party
- Nevada grand jury indicts six Republicans who falsely certified that Trump won the state in 2020
- Climate talks shift into high gear. Now words and definitions matter at COP28
- The 'Rebel Ridge' trailer is here: Get an exclusive first look at Netflix movie
- What to know about Hanukkah and how it’s celebrated around the world
- Wyoming may auction off huge piece of pristine land inside Grand Teton
- A federal grand jury in Puerto Rico indicts three men on environmental crimes
- Which apps offer encrypted messaging? How to switch and what to know after feds’ warning
- Jamie Dimon on the cryptocurrency industry: I'd close it down
Ranking
- Off the Grid: Sally breaks down USA TODAY's daily crossword puzzle, Hi Hi!
- Facebook and Instagram are steering child predators to kids, New Mexico AG alleges
- Democratic bill with billions in aid for Ukraine and Israel fails to clear first Senate hurdle
- UN chief uses rare power to warn Security Council of impending ‘humanitarian catastrophe’ in Gaza
- Boy who wandered away from his 5th birthday party found dead in canal, police say
- Azerbaijan to hold snap presidential election on February 7, shortly before Russia’s vote
- Japan pledges $4.5B more in aid for Ukraine, including $1B in humanitarian funds
- RHOC's Shannon Beador Breaks Silence on Her Ex John Janssen Dating Alum Alexis Bellino
Recommendation
Why we love Bear Pond Books, a ski town bookstore with a French bulldog 'Staff Pup'
What grade do the Padres get on their Juan Soto trades?
The White House is threatening the patents of high-priced drugs developed with taxpayer dollars
Her dog died from a respiratory illness. Now she’s trying to help others.
Tropical rains flood homes in an inland Georgia neighborhood for the second time since 2016
A woman hurled food at a Chipotle worker. A judge sentenced the attacker to work in a fast-food restaurant
Divides over trade and Ukraine are in focus as EU and China’s leaders meet in Beijing
Wyoming may auction off huge piece of pristine land inside Grand Teton