OT: Crazy Michael Oher story

[18IsTheMan]

This whole situation is sad. He's claiming the Tuohy family duped him into signing a conservatorship so they could profit off him. They say the conservatorship was necessary for the NCAA to allow him to attend Ole Miss.

On the face of it, his claims seem dubious, at best. The Tuohys were already multi-millionaires, worth tens of millions of dollars. What real motivation would they have to profit a few hundred thousand dollars off hiim? Their lawyer claims it's a shakedown and that Oher threatened to release a negative story about them if they didn't give him $15 million.

As far as the movie, well, it's a movie. People are being stupid going crazy over the fact that parts of the movie were fictionalized, as if it's the first time that's ever been done in the history of movies.

I sure hope this can be resolved and they can be reconciled.

 

[Stardust710]

Seems like they only made money off the movie. Probably another kapernick.

 

[18IsTheMan]

Seems like they only made money off the movie. Probably another kapernick.

I'm not even sure they made money off the movie, or very little. The movie was based on a book, so the author of the book would have been the one to get the movie deal.

If I understand the Tuohy's claim properly, the book's author gave them half of his profits. They then split that equally among all the family members, $14,500 each.

Kaepernick is also who came to mind for me.

 

[Prestonyte]

Sounds and acts like Kaepernick - very thankful and appreciative of everything graciously done for him and the opportunities he was given - now showing his gratitude in the most unusual ways

 

[18IsTheMan]

Sounds and acts like Kaepernick - very thankful and appreciative of everything graciously done for him and the opportunities he was given - now showing his gratitude in the most unusual ways

It's not hard to read between the lines: He squandered his NFL earnings.

 

[Prestonyte]

It's not hard to read between the lines: He squandered his NFL earnings.

Exactly my point - an earnings opportunity he owes to the Tuohy's grace and support.
Now he feels they owe him more.

 

[adcoop]

Exactly my point - an earnings opportunity he owes to the Tuohy's grace and support.
Now he feels they owe him more.

LOL!!! The conservatorship should have ended when the guy was 25. Why is the Conservatorship still in place? If it was all about him getting into college, they should have let it go as soon as he got in. To think they were just doing this out of the goodness of their hearts is funny. They just happened to help this Black kid who was a High School All-American. Yeah, but he needs to be thankful for being exploited.

 

[adcoop]

Exactly my point - an earnings opportunity he owes to the Tuohy's grace and support.
Now he feels they owe him more.

What??? The kid was a High School All-American. He would have gotten in school if a booster needed to come forward and be his conservator. His talent got this opportunity. Not some person that got him to sign a legal document. Finally, why didn't they just adopt like they said they were going to do. Instead, they told him Conservatorship was another word for Adoption. Blame Oher for being uneducated and naive, but trying to be a Kaepernick? Nah.

 

[Fried Chicken]

I’d say both parties in this are guilty. I saw the movie and I immediately felt like the family saw an opportunity, maybe not for money but for some status, and jumped at it. Honestly, I thought the movie sucked. Couldn’t re-watch it.

In the end, it sounds like he wanted to take advantage of them. It’s hard to ignore text messages indicating he knew this “new” information at least 3 years ago.

 

[KingWard]

Sincere question: going back to when their paths crossed, where would he have have been without them?

 

[Prestonyte]

If he did not need their help, then why was he not on his own and going it alone/independent?

 

[Stardust710]

What??? The kid was a High School All-American. He would have gotten in school if a booster needed to come forward and be his conservator. His talent got this opportunity. Not some person that got him to sign a legal document. Finally, why didn't they just adopt like they said they were going to do. Instead, they told him Conservatorship was another word for Adoption. Blame Oher for being uneducated and naive, but trying to be a Kaepernick? Nah.

Really? Neither would have been know without each other. Well one more than the other.

 

[Fried Chicken]

Sincere question: going back to when their paths crossed, where would he have have been without them?

Not sure we truly know. I’m sure they helped. But I’m also sure everything we have read and seen about the story has been sensationalized.

Personally, I prefer Varisty Blues.

 

[Stardust710]

Not sure we truly know. I’m sure they helped. But I’m also sure everything we have read and seen about the story has been sensationalized.

Personally, I prefer Varisty Blues.

My hero.

 

[HillsToSea]

What??? The kid was a High School All-American. He would have gotten in school if a booster needed to come forward and be his conservator. His talent got this opportunity. Not some person that got him to sign a legal document. Finally, why didn't they just adopt like they said they were going to do. Instead, they told him Conservatorship was another word for Adoption. Blame Oher for being uneducated and naive, but trying to be a Kaepernick? Nah.

He was 18 when the adoption, conserator thing came up

 

[Lurker123]

It's not hard to read between the lines: He squandered his NFL earnings.

This.

It should be pretty easy to prove the family made millions off the movie, vs selling the book rights for thousands. And the father seems confident he has shown just that.

 

[gamecock stock]

It's not hard to read between the lines: He squandered his NFL earnings.

That was my first thought as well. He should have had a financial manager invest half his NFL earnings in a diversified position of stocks and, he'd then be set. If a NFL player can't live well on half his earnings, then there's something wrong with him.

 

[Gradstudent]

Oher already contradicted some things in his 2011 book, "I beat the odds", he knew it was a conservatorship in 2011 when he wrote the book.

How has Oher described the process leading to the conservatorship?​

On Page 168 of his 2011 bestseller, "I Beat the Odds," Oher describes the legal process of joining the Tuohy family in the summer after he graduated high school:

Leigh Anne and Sean had already assumed responsibility for me as guardians, which allowed them to sign my school permission slips and take me to medical appointments. This last step was the one that would make everything binding.

It kind of felt like a formality, as I'd been a part of the family for more than a year at that point. Since I was already over the age of eighteen and considered an adult by the state of Tennessee, Sean and Leigh Anne would be named as my "legal conservators." They explained to me that it means pretty much the exact same thing as "adoptive parents," but that the laws were just written in a way that took my age into account. Honestly, I didn't care what it was called. I was just happy that no one could argue that we weren't legally what we already knew was real: We were a family.

This week's probate filing alleges that the Tuohys invited Oher to live with them in July 2004.

The petition alleges:

"Almost immediately after Michael moved in, the Tuohys presented him with what he understood to be legal papers that were a necessary step in the adoption process. Michael trusted the Tuohys and signed where they told him to sign."

"What he signed, however, and unknown to Michael until after February of 2023, were not adoption papers, or the equivalent of adoption papers. Instead, it was the Petition for Appointment of Conservators which was filed in this cause on Aug. 9, 2004 by Debra Branan, attorney of record in this matter. Ms. Branan was so close to the Tuohy family that Michael was encouraged to refer to her as Aunt Debbie."

 

[Lurker123]

Oher already contradicted some things in his 2011 book, "I beat the odds", he knew it was a conservatorship in 2011 when he wrote the book.

How has Oher described the process leading to the conservatorship?​

On Page 168 of his 2011 bestseller, "I Beat the Odds," Oher describes the legal process of joining the Tuohy family in the summer after he graduated high school:

Leigh Anne and Sean had already assumed responsibility for me as guardians, which allowed them to sign my school permission slips and take me to medical appointments. This last step was the one that would make everything binding.

It kind of felt like a formality, as I'd been a part of the family for more than a year at that point. Since I was already over the age of eighteen and considered an adult by the state of Tennessee, Sean and Leigh Anne would be named as my "legal conservators." They explained to me that it means pretty much the exact same thing as "adoptive parents," but that the laws were just written in a way that took my age into account. Honestly, I didn't care what it was called. I was just happy that no one could argue that we weren't legally what we already knew was real: We were a family.

This week's probate filing alleges that the Tuohys invited Oher to live with them in July 2004.

The petition alleges:

"Almost immediately after Michael moved in, the Tuohys presented him with what he understood to be legal papers that were a necessary step in the adoption process. Michael trusted the Tuohys and signed where they told him to sign."

"What he signed, however, and unknown to Michael until after February of 2023, were not adoption papers, or the equivalent of adoption papers. Instead, it was the Petition for Appointment of Conservators which was filed in this cause on Aug. 9, 2004 by Debra Branan, attorney of record in this matter. Ms. Branan was so close to the Tuohy family that Michael was encouraged to refer to her as Aunt Debbie."

Well that just kind of wraps this up.

 

[18IsTheMan]

What??? The kid was a High School All-American. He would have gotten in school if a booster needed to come forward and be his conservator. His talent got this opportunity. Not some person that got him to sign a legal document. Finally, why didn't they just adopt like they said they were going to do. Instead, they told him Conservatorship was another word for Adoption. Blame Oher for being uneducated and naive, but trying to be a Kaepernick? Nah.

There’s no indication it was still being enforced.

 

[gamecock stock]

Sources told People magazine that the Tuohys got $700,000 for the movie, to be split evenly between themselves, their biological children and Oher. The sources were those who paid the Tuohys. I don't know where he came up with "millions" made.

Now some people are calling for Sandra Bullock to give back the Oscar she won for portraying Mrs. Tuohy. SMH That's ridiculous. The big guy who played Oher in the movie said people better leave Bullock alone, That she is going through a tough time having just buried her long-time boyfriend. He went on to say that if people come after Sandra Bullock, they will have to go through him.

 

[18IsTheMan]

Sources told People magazine that the Tuohys got $700,000 for the movie, to be split evenly between themselves, their biological children and Oher. The sources were those who paid the Tuohys. I don't know where he came up with "millions" made.

Now some people are calling for Sandra Bullock to give back the Oscar she won for portraying Mrs. Tuohy. SMH That's ridiculous. The big guy who played Oher in the movie said people better leave Bullock alone, That she is going through a tough time having just buried her long-time boyfriend. He went on to say that if people come after Sandra Bullock, they will have to go through him.

It hilarious that people are outraged to find out parts of the movie were made up. The horror!!!

Where would a family worth hundreds of millions of dollars be without that fee hundred thousand dollars?

 

[18IsTheMan]

No serious people buy a word of Oher’s laughable tale

 

[Forkcock]

Exactly my point - an earnings opportunity he owes to the Tuohy's grace and support.
Now he feels they owe him more.

75% of NFL players file for bankruptcy 5 years after retirement.

 

[18IsTheMan]

The book's author destroyed Oher's narrative. VERY surprised WaPo published this story. Figured they'd be biased for Oher.

The author says the deal to make the book into a movie paid $250,000 which he split equally with the Tuohys. Said his share after taxes was $70,000, which lines up with Tuohy saying their share split with each of the 5 family members getting $14,000. Also: "Lewis said that ultimately after agent fees and taxes, he and the Tuohy family received around $350,000 each from the profits of the movie. Lewis said the Tuohys planned to share the royalties among the family members, including Oher, but Oher began declining his royalty checks, Lewis said."

Didn't take long for Oher's narrative to be obliterated.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2023/08/16/michael-lewis-blind-side-lawsuit/

 

[18IsTheMan]

Tip for Oher: If you're going to claim that you JUST learned you weren't actually adopted but only had a conservatorship, make sure you didn't write in your book published 12 years ago that the Tuohys became your conservators:

Excerpt:

“Since I was already over the age of eighteen and considered an adult by the state of Tennessee, Sean and Leigh Anne would be named as my ‘legal conservators,’” he wrote.

“They explained to me that it means pretty much the exact same thing as ‘adoptive parents,’ but that the laws were just written in a way that took my age into account,” Oher added.

“Honestly, I didn’t care what it was called. I was just happy that no one could argue that we weren’t legally what we already knew was real: We were a family.”

LOL, can't make it up. If he's this stupid, he needs conservators.

Michael Oher’s ‘Blind Side’ paycheck allegations called into question as lawyer makes bombshell claim

Former NFL star Michael Oher — and every other member of the Tuohy family — each received $100,000 from the profits of “The Blind Side,” lawyers for the family claim.

nypost.com

 

[Lurker123]

Okay, just in case anyone still thought this story by Oher wasn't full of garbage, the producers of the movie came out and said the family did not make "millions" off the movie. The payments to the entire family, including Oher, were around 700,000.

 

[18IsTheMan]

Okay, just in case anyone still thought this story by Oher wasn't full of garbage, the producers of the movie came out and said the family did not make "millions" off the movie. The payments to the entire family, including Oher, were around 700,000.

Yep. Another tip for Oher: don’t make claims which can easily be debunked by impartial 3rd parties.

The unfortunate side of all this is that the media are now combing through the Tuohy’s lives with a fine tooth comb, looking for anything and everything to show that they are bad people.

 

[Stardust710]

Yep. Another tip for Oher: don’t make claims which can easily be debunked by impartial 3rd parties.

The unfortunate side of all this is that the media are now combing through the Tuohy’s lives with a fine tooth comb, looking for anything and everything to show that they are bad people.

Good people bad, bad people good.

 

[18IsTheMan]

Good people bad, bad people good.

That's pretty much it.

Unsurprisingly The media, by and large, have approached this with a "why are the Tuohy's guilty?" mindset and not "Is what Oher is saying true?" He's assumed to be truthful and they are assumed to be guilty. So the whole narrative is interpreted that way.