When Andrew Lawrence, now of the Guardian US, interviewed the American football player Michael Oher in 2009, Oher was already uncomfortable about how his life story was being portrayed to the public. This was shortly before The Blind Side was released, and Lawrence says the film “threatened to blow up those uncomfortable elements one hundred fold”.
The Oscar-winning film, starring Sandra Bullock, tells the story of Oher’s rise to the NFL with the support of the Tuohy family, who took him in when he was 17.
“There are many cringe-worthy scenes in that movie,” Lawrence tells Michael Safi, “but something about their elementary school-age son teaching this high school football player how to play on the offensive line using kitchen condiments on their table – it’s disgusting, frankly.”
Last month, Oher filed a lawsuit against Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy, alleging they duped him into a conservatorship after his 18th birthday, which allowed them to make business deals on his behalf as his power of attorney.
“The lie of Michael’s adoption is one upon which co-conservators Leigh Anne Tuohy and Sean Tuohy have enriched themselves at the expense of their ward, the undersigned Michael Oher,” the petition alleges.
A lawyer for the Tuohy family has said: “The idea that the family ever sought to profit off Mr Oher is not only offensive, it is transparently ridiculous.”
Photograph: Nick Wass/AP
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