Michael Oher stepped out for the first time since filing his lawsuit against the Tuohy family — but he did not publicly address the drama.
The former NFL star, 37, signed copies of his new memoir, When Your Back’s Against the Wall, for fans at a Baltimore bookstore on Monday, August 21. Though he did not speak directly to reporters, he opened up about the book in a short speech before the signing.
“This book, it means a lot to me,” Oher told fans, according to the Associated Press. “Basically, it’s a playbook on life and how I continue to fight back and when your back’s against the wall. That’s how I’ve felt all my life.”
He continued: “My most important lesson in the playbook right here is looking yourself in the mirror and if you’re going through anything, I don’t care what it is, you have every answer that you need to get over what’s going on. I just want to thank you all for coming. I really appreciate it.”
Oher — who began his NFL career playing for the Baltimore Ravens — concluded his statement by adding, “And, go Ravens!”
Earlier this month, Oher filed a lawsuit against the Tuohy family, claiming he was never formally adopted by them. He alleged that his guardians, Leigh Anne and Sean Tuohy, convinced him to sign a document appointing them as his conservators, giving them legal authority to make business deals on his behalf. His lawsuit asks for his conservatorship to be ended.
In the legal documents, filed on August 14, Oher also alleged that he never earned any profits from the 2009 film The Blind Side while the Tuohys — including the couple’s daughter Collins, 36, and son Sean “SJ” Jr., 30 — have earned millions from it over the years. The movie is inspired by his experience as a talented athlete in the foster care system who was taken under the wing of the Tuohy family.
“I am disheartened by the revelation shared in the lawsuit today,” he said in a statement to the New York Post at the time. “This is a difficult situation for my family and me. I want to ask everyone to please respect our privacy at this time. For now, I will let the lawsuit speak for itself and will offer no further comment.”
The Tuohys have since insisted that any money from the film was divided equally among Oher and the family. Leigh Anne, 63 and Sean’s family lawyer Marty Singer told The Hollywood Reporter on August 15 that Oher allegedly threatened to “plant a negative story about them in the press unless they paid him $15 million.”
Sean, 63, for his part, claimed to the Daily Memphian that Oher would not have been permitted to attend and play football at the University of Mississippi, Ole Miss. Another of the Tuohy’s lawyers, Steven Farese, also revealed in an August 16 press conference that Oher has been “estranged” from the family for the last 10 years.
Amid the lawsuit drama, the author of The Blind Side novel — from which the film was adapted — Michael Lewis, informed The Washington Post that he and the Tuohys were paid around $350,000 in royalties upon the film’s initial release and that Oher had stopped cashing his royalty checks. Lewis, 62, told the outlet he believes the family deposited Oher’s earnings from the film in a trust.
“What I feel really sad about is I watched the whole thing up close,” Lewis stated. “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.”
