Michael Oher, subject of “The Blind Side,” is suing the family that took him in

Hollywood may have duped us yet again.

Michael Oher, the retired NFL player whose upbringing was chronicled in The Blind Side, filed a lawsuit this week alleging he was never actually adopted by the Tuohys (the family that took him in), and that they made millions from his story by tricking him into entering a conservatorship, which allowed the family to have the legal authority to make business deals and decisions in his name.

A quick timeline:

• 2003: Oher, while attending a private Christian school in Memphis, is named Tennessee’s Division II Lineman of the Year, first team All-State, and a five-star football recruit. Because of his unstable housing situation, Oher frequently stayed over at the homes of his classmates, including the Tuohys.
• 2004: The Tuohys and Oher enter into a conservatorship, which Oher wrote in his 2011 book: "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."
• 2006: Michael Lewis publishes The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game, which focuses on Oher’s story and the importance of the left-tackle position in modern-day football.

Per the petition filed by Oher, the Tuohy family began negotiating a movie deal shortly after the release of Lewis’ book in 2006.

Oher alleges that while he unknowingly signed (or potentially didn’t even sign) away the rights to his life story for free in 2007, a deal was reached to pay the Tuohys and their two children $225,000 each, plus 2.5% of future defined net proceeds of the film. The Blind Side, released in 2009, went on to gross more than $300 million at the global box office.

💬 The family’s response: Steve Farese, a lawyer for the Tuohys, told The AP they’ll file an answer to the allegations in court. Sean Tuohy told The Daily Memphian the conservatorship was done to satisfy the NCAA as Oher considered Tuohy’s alma mater Ole Miss for college, and that he and his wife would end it if that’s what Oher wants.

👀 Looking ahead… Oher is seeking to end the Tuohys' conservatorship and bar them from using his name and likeness. It also seeks a full accounting of the money the Tuohys earned using Oher's name, and to have the couple pay him his fair share of profits, as well as unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.