The author of The Blind Side book, Michael Lewis, has offered his thoughts on the recent controversy regarding former NFL offensive lineman Michael Oher’s allegation that the Tuohy family never officially adopted him and did not provide him with any money from the 2009 movie version of their story.
Lewis was a childhood friend of Sean Tuohy, and he wrote the book about how the family took in Oher when he was a destitute teenager. Oher is now taking court action against the Tuohys, alleging that he was tricked into signing documents to make them his conservators after he turned 18. Oher further alleges the family didn’t share income from the movie with him.
The author doesn’t seem to believe everything Oher has alleged. In a Wednesday interview with The Washington Post, Lewis said he and the Tuohy family each earned approximately $350,000 from the blockbuster film, and he believes the Tuohys planned to give Oher an equal share.
“What I feel really sad about is I watched the whole thing up close,” Lewis told The Post. “They showered him with resources and love. That he’s suspicious of them is breathtaking. The state of mind one has to be in to do that. I feel sad for him.”
Lewis went as far to say that Oher’s real villain here should be Hollywood movie industry, which paid out relatively little of the $330 million the film earned at the box office.
“Everybody should be mad at the Hollywood studio system,” Lewis said. “Michael Oher should join the writers’ strike. It’s outrageous how Hollywood accounting works, but the money is not in the Tuohys’ pockets.”
Oher’s legal filing states that he wants to end the conservatorship and ban the Tuohys from using his name, image and likeness in the future.
The Tuohys’ legal team has responded by saying Oher’s allegations are a “shakedown effort.” The family’s lawyer, Martin Singer, stated that Oher told the Tuohys he would plant a negative story about them in the media if they didn’t pay him $15 million.
