(NewsNation) — Attorneys for the family of Sean and Leigh Ann Tuohy are disputing claims from former NFL player Michael Oher that he was tricked into a conservatorship, calling the allegations “completely false” and alleging he tried to extort the family.
Oher claims in a lawsuit that he was never legally adopted by the Tuohys, who took in the homeless teen in 2004. He went on to play football at the Tuohys’ alma mater, Mississippi, and later played in the NFL, winning a Super Bowl with the Baltimore Ravens.
“It’s completely false, and when the proof comes out, everyone will see the truth,” Touhy family attorney Steve Farese Sr. said Tuesday on “CUOMO.”
Oher, whose story was the subject of the hit 2009 movie “The Blind Side,” claimed in a Tennessee court that the basis of the movie is a lie. Oher said the Tuohy family never legally adopted him.
In the court filing, Oher said Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy presented him with a petition in 2004 for a conservatorship, which granted them “total control over [his] ability to negotiate for or enter any contract” even though he was over the age of 18 and had no physical or mental disabilities. He said they presented it as the only option they had to “adopt” him since he was over 18.
Since then, Oher claims, the Tuohys have “falsely and publicly represented themselves as the adoptive parents of Michael.”
In the petition filed Monday, Oher asks for the conservatorship to be terminated along with asking for a full accounting of the money earned off the use of his name and story.
“Numbers don’t lie, paper trails don’t lie, and when the proper time comes and we present the truth, I think it will be evident to everyone of what’s going on here,” Farese said.
Farese said the movie was about more than just Oher and that the Tuohy family “sacrificed” for Oher.
“This story was about a family — about a brother, about a sister, about a mother, about a father,” Farese said.
Separately, another Tuohy family attorney, Michael Singer, claimed in a statement to multiple news outlets, including ESPN, that Oher attempted to extort the family by threatening to go public with claims about them if they didn’t pay him $15 million.
“In reality, the Tuohys opened their home to Mr. Oher, offered him structure, support and, most of all, unconditional love,” Singer’s statement said. “They have consistently treated him like a son and one of their three children.”
Oher, who has never been a fan of the movie about his life, also asks in the petition that the Tuohys be sanctioned and required to pay both compensatory and punitive damages determined by the court.
The Tuohy family statement says the idea that they sought to profit off Oher is “not only offensive, it is transparently ridiculous.” The statement notes the Tuohys are worth “hundreds of millions of dollars” and the notion they would “connive to withhold a few thousand dollars” defies belief.
The statement says agents negotiated a small advance from the production company for the movie, which was based on the book written by Sean Tuohy’s friend Michael Lewis. That included “a tiny percentage of net profits” divided equally with the Tuohys making “good on that pledge.”
Singer notes evidence exists in profit participation checks and studio accounting statements for the movie.
When Oher refused to cash what the statement calls “small profit checks” as part of his “shakedown effort,” the statement says the Tuohys deposited Oher’s share into a trust account set up for his son.
The Tuohys insist they received “not one penny” as Oher’s conservators and set it up only to help him with health insurance, a driver’s license and being admitted to college. The statement says the Tuohys will not oppose Oher’s wish to end their conservatorship.
According to Farese, the Tuohys have tried to stay in touch with Oher over the years, only to be mostly rebuffed.
“When he has been responsive, it’s been troubling what has been texted,” Farese said. “From my knowledge, it’s been going on for over a year.”
NewsNation affiliate WKRN and The Associated Press contributed to this report.