Why is Oher just now looking for $$$?

[PhiDawg]

I believe his editor discovered all this when they were fact checking his book for publication. The company would have tried to confirm every assertion in the book to determine its accuracy to save them embarrassment should things not turn out to be true.

That is why it is all coming out now. The editing and fact checking would have taken place earlier this year before publication. I'm sure it was also held for a bit to drum up book sales too. It's not a surprise that his book came out the day after.

This makes sense. And Conservatorship is not the same as adoption. And yes you can adopt an adult in TN.

 

[BoDawg.sixpack]

I'm guessing like a lot of former professional athletes he's broke, or within a year of being broke.

 

[DerHntr]

The irony is not lost on me that a man who was portrayed in a movie as barely able to complete a sentence has now written a book. I’m not saying it’s a good book or well written, but it’s also not a picture book for kids.

I bet Ole Miss tries to spin this into a story about a kid who could barely read and write that is now a best selling author because of his time in Oxford.

 

[thatsbaseball]

The irony is not lost on me that a man who was portrayed in a movie as barely able to complete a sentence has now written a book. I’m not saying it’s a good book or well written, but it’s also not a picture book for kids.

I bet Ole Miss tries to spin this into a story about a kid who could barely read and write that is now a best selling author because of his time in Oxford.

Jerrell Powe say: Preach brother !

 

[ChE1997]

I mean, is the guy broke now? Surely he had somebody watching his money. I'll hang up and listen.......

My understanding is that he only found out in February he was not "part of the family, and Adopted" like he'd been told for 20 years. And instead, the people he thought loved him and took him in off the streets, did it for what appears to be, the money he could make them.

Both for his athletic ability, and then his own story.

As for "who was watching his money", It was a personal friend of who he thought was his dad.

You'd trust one of your father's friends, right? I don't think that is unreasonable. You'd assume someone that cared enough to adopt you would have your best interest?

Would that trust change if he wasn't your dad but someone that only cared about controlling your money?

And You can adopt an adult in Tennessee, It's easier, cheaper, and faster to adopt an adult than a child.

Not as easy an on conservatorship. But easy.

If it was me and I'd just found out. I'd be pissed too. As an adopted child, he'd be an heir. As a conservator, he's nothing...
And all of that is before accounting for not getting any money for the book, or the movie.

 

[thatsbaseball]

"As an adopted child, he'd be an heir"

I think this point is being overlooked bigly. These folks are due to leave a 250mil+ estate.

 

[IBleedMaroonDawg]

"As an adopted child, he'd be an heir"

I think this point is being overlooked bigly. These folks are due to leave a 250mil+ estate.

Not if he isn't legally adopted or written in the will.

 

[ChE1997]

Not if he isn't legally adopted or written in the will.

And that's the point.....

He thought he was legally adopted 20 years ago...

 

[thatsbaseball]

"He thought he was legally adopted 20 years ago..."

....and wills have been tied up in Probate courts for years over much weaker arguments than this. I don't know how deeply each side's lawyers are dug in but I could see the Touhy's paying something to have this just "go away".

 

[ckDOG]

This is what I think is happening. I'm guessing that when he was younger, he was just happy to have a stable family take an interest in him. As he's gotten older, he's probably gotten a little bitter as he has realized that relationship was pretty transactional, hence them not taking an interest in any of his siblings. Combine that real hurt with people getting in his ear and amplifying it, and you get a lawsuit. Be interesting to see what happens. I don't think much of the Tuohys, but I am going to guess their ducks are in a row on this and they will be able to show where any royalty money went.

Yep. The Tuohy's by most accounts are trash but I don't feel they are stupid. It was absolutely a transactional relationship and I'm sure they don't owe him anything contractually. I don't think they profited off the movie any more than he did and makes me question the advice Oher is getting.

That said, they surely did not act ethically. They probably have some civil exposure if he can paint a picture that they took advantage of a young kid in a bad spot and caused some emotional damage etc. Making him feel part of the family. Realizing it wasn't about love but about football and Ole Miss. Etc etc. That would be an easy sell to a jury.

 

[OG Goat Holder]

Something along these lines. Someone got in his head. "Your movie grossed $300 million. How much did you get of that? Less than 1%?! Somebody owes you more." Probably easy to feel taken advantage of in that situation so he's lashing out at low hanging fruit.

Bingo

 

[Clay Lyle]

The conservatorship gave Tuohy authority to offer Oher’s story to Michael Lewis for his book and then the right to negotiate the story with studios. Tuohy certainly did this and had some type of contract in place, or Oher has an easy defamation case against the author and the studio.

Many people keep saying Oher is broke and trying to screw over the people that helped him, but something fishy has certainly gone down with all of this. Daddy Tuohy first said it was $14K per family member including Oher. Then SJ says it’s $70K and that’s including active royalties. Now the Tuohy lawyer throws out $100K per family member. There’s also 2017 footage on a yacht reality show with Tuohy bragging about negotiating the movie rights to Steven Spielberg, but this week in the Memphis paper he says they weren’t involved at all and Lewis gave them a little money as a kind gesture.

Yes, the Tuohys are rich from fast food restaurants and didn’t have to screw over a young black man to get money. But they are all about the clout and the fame now. They have ridden this false narrative to a new level of social class, and it’s all thanks to the conservatorship. Had they just done the adoption papers, Oher still goes to Ole Miss but has more of a say on how he is portrayed on the big screen and definitely earns more from it. He would’ve had an agent at the time of negotiations.

 

[ChinaDogSunflower]

Something that I haven’t seen discussed much is the possibility that the Tuohys primarily or partly took him in because of his football prowess AND also came to love/care about him. It’s not uncommon for a certain class of people to “adopt” a child that looks different from them as some kind of bizarro status symbol.

And before anyone jumps on me, it’s also quite common for people to adopt children that are in some way different from them, and for all the right reasons, i.e., genuine love and goodwill.

All very true. They didn't adopt him though

 

[Bulldog Bruce]

Would any of you just "deal with it" when you knew someone had cut you out of 5 million dollars on YOUR OWN LIFE STORY?

I swear I really wonder about some of you guys. "Just stiring up things for his new book". GTFO. Who cares about the timing. I hope he makes $500M off his new book, who cares good for him.

Legally he is owed millions by a trashy fake family that used him to get money and fame on a fake story. HIS OWN STORY. A lie and a lie that won an actress an oscar. All fake. Oher got $0.

His book is his first chance to tell HIS OWN STORY and profit from it. I halfway wonder if this filthly lawyer contacted the book publisher and told them he had rights to the money on Oher's new book as well because of the conservatorship. I would not put it past these people.

I tell you what. I will write a book about a fake story of your life and sell it and make it into a movie. When you complain about it I will tell you that you are just stirring up interest in yourself and to go away because you like Ole Miss.

It can be easily argued the story is about the Touhy Family and Michael Oher was just a part of that story.

I am not going to come to any conclusions from all that I read. There is now plenty out there to be on either side and I don't know any of them.

 

[She Mate Me]

It can be easily argued the story is about the Touhy Family and Michael Oher was just a part of that story.

I am not going to come to any conclusions from all that I read. There is now plenty out there to be on either side and I don't know any of them.

Well, the story may be about the Touhys as much or more than Oher, but nobody would give a **** about the story without Oher. It's not called The Old Point Guard.

 

[Bulldog Bruce]

Well, the story may be about the Touhys as much or more than Oher, but nobody would give a **** about the story without Oher. It's not called The Old Point Guard.

I never heard of Micheal Oher before this movie. There are other movies about offensive lineman like Greater and let's not forget Rudy. It was a story and Leanne Touhy is just as much a part of that movie. Her character won the Oscar, not Oher's.

 

[onewoof]

I never heard of Micheal Oher before this movie. There are other movies about offensive lineman like Greater and let's not forget Rudy. It was a story and Leanne Touhy is just as much a part of that movie. Her character won the Oscar, not Oher's.

Yes it's true that you can't judge a case by the media leaks or one side of the story (available in a public court complaint now).

And yes there is no burden that any movie about anyone's life be true instead of grossly embellished for the sake of a feel good story.

However. The judge will look at the payouts to the family and that Oher, a part of the family, didn't get anything. Ethics and the law don't always match up. And who knows better how to exploit the law and another person than someone familiar with the law. Which by the way you can do more with a conservatorship than adoption... wonder why they did that and claimed it was the only adoption they could do... interesting and deceptive. So this appears like it will point to the lawyer that was both Ohers "movie rights agent" and the one who did the conservatorship legal paperwork, a very close family friend of the accused. Legally they could screw him over 7 days a week and twice on Sundays. But not ethically. Set the money up so it can't be pointed back at you. Happens every day.

You've got multiple character witnesses from Ole Miss that say that family isn't a decent family. You've got random waiters in Memphis speaking up saying they are awful people.

Everything points to someone that wanted to help another person a little but help themselves a lot. After all, he would make 5x more in the NFL. Why not work any back room deal you can to get as much as you can.

It's really the poster child story of why NIL is legal. This seems like gross NIL exploitation. I honestly expect the court case to allow the family to deduct room and board, meals and gas from the millions they or the lawyer agent will end up owing Oher. Hopefully the judge will allow subpoenas that open up the money trail. It seems like the money due to Oher was intentionally routed to another place on purpose. The fact he signed the "adoption" without any legal advice 3 months after his 18th birthday, coerced, emotionally represented as adoption, and an attempt to avoid the NCAA booster rules, will factor in.

But you're welcome to hold out on belief that everyone is wrong and these are fine outstanding folk. Maybe you're right.

 

[She Mate Me]

I never heard of Micheal Oher before this movie. There are other movies about offensive lineman like Greater and let's not forget Rudy. It was a story and Leanne Touhy is just as much a part of that movie. Her character won the Oscar, not Oher's.

I'd say you're in the minority of MSU football fans if you didn't know who Oher, an All American O lineman at OM, was before the movie. And I don't think Rudy was an O lineman (DE).

I even read the book before it was a movie. It's more about the evolution of football and the left tackle position than it is about the Tuohys, but that doesn't make for a very interesting movie starring Sandra Bullock.

The Tuohys were instrumental in both the book (Sean went to the same HS as Michael Lewis, and the Manning boys, incidentally) and the movie, but there was nothing too interesting there without the story of Oher. He may not have been the driving force, but he was very necessary for there to be a story to tell.

 

[The Peeper]

I could see the Touhy's paying something to have this just "go away".

Yep, this is what will ultimately happen.

The family wasn't going to enjoy the negative publicity and the University of Northern MS certainly wasn't going to like it raining on them. I was really surprised when daddy made a statement then Jr made a statement (that conflicted by the way) within a day of this breaking. Notice how it's gotten quiet now? A paid firm has no doubt been hired to shut it down. Time will pass, the interest will die, non- disclosures will be signed and checks will be written and no more will be heard about it

 

[ChE1997]

It can be easily argued the story is about the Touhy Family and Michael Oher was just a part of that story.

I am not going to come to any conclusions from all that I read. There is now plenty out there to be on either side and I don't know any of them.

The story would have never made it from book to movie , if Oher was not a 5* offensive lineman, and a top 5 national recruit and just another offensive lineman no one cares. .

The book and movie make it seem like THEY made him a 5* lineman.... Which he was BEFORE he started living with the Touhys

It's a complete fiction. And absurd as if I started taking credit for you hitting all those home runs at MSU.

 

[Msdeltareb]

Say what you want, but Oher got a pretty sweet deal. Educated white folks helping you through an important time of your life when you had next to nothing else as a guiding light.... Even if he was screwed a little bit, I am sure it has helped him even more.

Now I will say, the Toeleys shouldn't have screwed him at all, but it seems like they did. Not a good look for those fine "Christian" people.

I don’t know if they screwed him over or not and if I had to guess, I’d guess they aren’t the “best people” in the world, but there’s no doubt that he benefited from their relationship a lot more than they did.

 

[onewoof]

I don’t know if they screwed him over or not and if I had to guess, I’d guess they aren’t the “best people” in the world, but there’s no doubt that he benefited from their relationship a lot more than they did.

I promise you he could be a Bama alum or Auburn alum and be just fine without them. Ask someone from Memphis. Oher was well known and was an obvious NFL prospect. This is the damage the false story of the movie did. Offensive lineman are not dumb.

 

[ChE1997]

I promise you he could be a Bama alum or Auburn alum and be just fine without them. Ask someone from Memphis. Oher was well known and was an obvious NFL prospect. This is the damage the false story of the movie did. Offensive lineman are not dumb.

He was a First Team All Tennessee, the Conference OPOY, and a 5* offensive tackle in 2003 as a HS Sophomore. The Touhy's "found him" and "took him in" in 2004...

He'd have gone anywhere he wanted.