The Tuohy family has responded to former NFL offensive tackle Michael Oher‘s claims of never being adopted by the family, and whose story served as the narrative of the 2009 drama The Blind Side.
Sean Tuohy, the family patriarch expressed that he was “devastated” by the allegations brought upon them by Oher in a 14-page petition on Monday (Aug. 14).
The Tuohy family’s attorney, Marty Singer, released a statement to TMZ today that alleges Oher’s response to the Tuohy’s support was “to threaten them,” citing that Oher said he “would plant a negative story about [the Tuohy’s] in the press unless they paid him $15 million.”
Singer shot down all of the allegations against Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy, noting that the two “have always been upfront about how a conservatorship (from which not one penny was received) was established to assist with Mr. Oher’s needs, ranging from getting him health insurance and obtaining a driver’s license to helping with college admissions.”
The statement says that “the Tuohys have given Mr. Oher an equal cut of every penny received from The Blind Side,” and even following Oher’s alleged threats, the Tuohys “still deposited Mr. Oher’s equal share into a trust account they set up for his son.”
“Unbeknownst to the public, Mr. Oher has actually attempted to run this play several times before,” the statement continues, “but it seems that numerous other lawyers stopped representing him once they saw the evidence and learned the truth. Sadly, Mr. Oher has finally found a willing enabler and filed this ludicrous lawsuit as a cynical attempt to drum up attention in the middle of his latest book tour.”
His new memoir When Your Back’s Against the Wall: Fame, Football and Lessons Learned Through a Lifetime of Adversity was released on Aug. 8.
Although the statement says that “the Tuohys will always care deeply for Oher,” it also states that “they will not hesitate to defend their good names, stand up to this shakedown and defeat this offensive lawsuit.”