The Tuohy Family Deny Receiving Millions Despite Michael Oher's Claims

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Michael Oher filed a petition saying Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy never legally adopted him and made millions of his story. However in a new update, the family claims they never made nearly as much money as people think.

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00:00 Michael Oher, the subject of the acclaimed movie "The Blind Side" filed a petition

00:03 saying Sean and Leigh-Anne Toohey never legally adopted him and made millions off his story.

00:09 However, in a new update, the family claims they never made nearly as much money as people

00:13 think.

00:18 The Blind Side story continues to get even deeper.

00:21 The Tooheys have been publicly speaking out about their success story after the latest

00:25 allegations.

00:26 And now the family claims the film has not impacted them the way the public thinks it

00:30 did.

00:31 It's Daniel Wonder reporting with the details.

00:32 It all started when Michael Oher, the real-life subject of "The Blind Side" played football

00:37 at the University of Mississippi and was later drafted to the Baltimore Ravens in 2009.

00:42 The star filed a petition Monday claiming that Sean and Leigh-Anne Toohey did not legally

00:47 adopt him but instead tricked him into signing a conservatorship before earning what he claims

00:52 to be millions of dollars.

00:54 In the petition, Oher alleges that each member of the Toohey family were paid $225,000 for

01:00 the film plus an additional 2.5% of the film's proceeds.

01:04 And Michael claims he really just got nothing.

01:06 The Blind Side, which made over $300 million at the box office and went on to earn a nomination

01:11 for Best Picture at the 2010 Academy Awards, hit home for many people.

01:16 Stars like Sandra Bullock played a pivotal part in the story, with some online even saying

01:20 she herself should be removed of her award for her role in the film because of the controversy.

01:25 But now a source close to the film told People that the Toohey's only received $700,000 total

01:30 in rights, payments and profits, which was intended to be divided between the family

01:35 members Sean, Leigh-Anne and their two biological children, and of course, Oher.

01:40 The source went on to note that Toohey's have not received millions of dollars from the

01:43 movie.

01:44 They have not even received $1 million from the movie.

01:47 Now Marty Singer, who is representing the family, also went on to deny Oher's claims

01:50 as well.

01:51 The representative mentioned, "When Michael Lewis, a friend of Sean's since childhood,

01:56 was approached about turning his book on Mr. Oher and the Toohey's into a movie about their

02:01 family, his agents negotiated a deal where they received a small advance from the production

02:06 company and a tiny percentage of net profits.

02:09 They insisted that any money received be divided equally, and they have made good on that pledge."

02:14 In the petition, Oher also claims that he unknowingly authorized the couple to be his

02:19 conservators back in 2004, but the representative is also stating otherwise.

02:24 According to the petition, the paper signed gave the Toohey's "total control over Oher's

02:29 ability to sign contracts."

02:30 His filing claimed that the Toohey's have "falsely and publicly represented themselves

02:35 as Oher's adoptive parents and enriched themselves in doing so."

02:39 Now the Toohey family fought back on these claims stating that the conservatorship had

02:43 to happen due to Oher being over the age of 18 and the inability to adopt him in the past

02:48 in any other way.

02:49 The conservatorship was allegedly the only way the family could assist Oher in his journey

02:53 to play football at a collegiate level.

02:56 The family attorney added in a statement, "In spite of the false allegation in the

02:59 lawsuit, the Toohey's have always been upfront about how a conservatorship, from which not

03:04 one penny was received, was established to assist with Mr. Oher's needs, ranging from

03:09 getting him health insurance and obtaining a driver's license, to helping him with

03:13 college admissions.

03:14 Should Mr. Oher wish to terminate the conservatorship, either now or any time in the future, the

03:18 Toohey's will never oppose it in any way."

03:21 We'll keep you updated on any more claims that come from this story at What's Trending.

03:24 Thanks for watching.

03:28 (thunder)

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