Sean and Lee Ann Twohey intend to end their guardianship of Michael O’Hare, their lawyers said at a press conference on Wednesday.
O’Hare, 37, filed a petition this week alleging that the Towhees family cheated him on the legal agreement.
Attorney Randall Fishman said the Tuohys plan to enter a consent order to end the conservatorship. O’Hare, a former offensive tackle and first miss lead, filed the petition in Shelby County, Tennessee, probate court on Monday asking for joint custody to be closed. O’Hare claimed in the petition that he discovered in February that he was in fact in custody and not adopted.
Oher, 37, is seeking payment for whatever money the Tuohys earned through the guardianship, including profits from the 2009 movie “The Blind Side” about Oher’s life and the Tuohys welcoming him into their family. The movie is said to have grossed over $300 million. The petition stated that a separate contract O’Hare signed in 2007 “appears to give Fox, without payment of any kind,” the rights to life for his story. O’Hare said he did not remember signing such a document, according to the filing.
“Michael got every cent,” Fishman said, “and every cent was coming.” In USA Today.
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Explanation of the guardianship that Michael O’Hare alleged Thohis had deceived him into
Sean Toohey he told the Daily Memphis Monday that his family is “devastated” by Orr’s allegations and that the family “didn’t make any money from the movie.” He said the family only made money from a share of the proceeds from the book “The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game,” which was written by Michael Lewis and was the basis for the movie.
On Tuesday, the Tuohy family’s attorney, Marty Singer, issued a statement calling O’Hare’s allegations “hurtful and absurd,” and accusing O’Hare of trying to “run this play many times before.”
The 14-page petition said the Tuohys took no legal action to take custody of Oher when he was a minor. Months after turning 18, the couple presented him with what they understood to be adoption papers, which were actually papers to make them his guardians, according to the filing. The guardianship was granted in August 2004, according to the petition, and gave the Tuohys legal authority over Oher’s business dealings.
Fishman said the family chose a system of preservation because it helped reduce the NCAA’s concerns that they were directing Oher to Ole Miss, their alma mater.
Oher, a consensus All-American selection at Ole Miss, was selected by the Baltimore Ravens with the 23rd pick in the 2009 NFL Draft. He spent eight seasons in the NFL, winning Super Bowl XLVII with Baltimore before stints with Tennessee Titans and Carolina Panthers.
(Photo: Matthew Sharp/Getty Images)
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