Explore More
Producers of “The Blind Side” have said that the hit film is still “verifiably authentic” after its credibility was thrust into doubt following Michael Oher’s bombshell lawsuit.
The 37-year-old former offensive tackle — whose life story inspired the 2009 film starring Sandra Bullock — this month claimed that his parents, Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy, never actually adopted him.
Broderick Johnson and Andrew Kosove, co-founders and co-CEOs of Alcon Entertainment and producers of the film, have given their two cents as “familial ups and downs” have challenged the authenticity of the storyline.
“The Blind Side is verifiably authentic and will never be a lie or fake, regardless of the familial ups and downs that have occurred subsequent to the film,” the pair said in a statement to People Thursday.
“We are as proud of the film today as we were when our amazing collaborators made the movie 14 years ago.”
Johnson and Kosove also disputed Oher’s claims that the Tuohys raked in millions worth of royalties in a statement to Deadline.
“The deal that was made by Fox for the Tuohy’s and Michael Oher’s life rights was consistent with the marketplace at that time for the rights of relatively unknown individuals,” they said. “Therefore, it did not include significant payouts in the event of the film’s success. As a result, the notion that the Tuohys were paid millions of dollars by Alcon to the detriment of Michael Oher is false.”
The pair said their production company paid about $767,000 to the talent agency that represented the Tuohys and Oher.
The movie grossed $309 million worldwide following its release.
Oher claims in his lawsuit he did not receive any money from the film’s profits.
“In the story of The Blind Side we saw the better angels of human nature,” their statement defending the film read. “We saw it in the extraordinary courage that Michael Oher demonstrated in accepting the Tuohys’ generosity not as a handout, or as his saviors, but as a way through which he could improve his own life.
“Michael’s academic accomplishments and athletic achievements demonstrate this. His raising of his own children now, who shall know a life of possibility the likes of which Michael never knew as a child, is the ultimate testament to Michael’s own strength and courage,” they added.
Johnson and Kosove said “no major studio” would make the film, leaving their production company to fund the $29 million budget.
“The prevailing ‘wisdom’ was that a football movie starring a woman would not appeal to football fans, it had too much football to appeal to families, and that movies starring Black actors don’t work overseas,” they told the outlet.
“Our opinion was that it would appeal to everyone, and, in 2009, when this country, and the world more broadly, was more hopeful and less divided — it did.”
Earlier this month, Oher claimed in court documents that he was never actually adopted by the Tuohys and that the conservatorship he was in allowed the Memphis couple to retain legal power over him.
He is now asking for a full accounting of the money earned off the use of his name a whopping 14 years since its release.
For their part, the Tuohy family has called Oher’s filing “hurtful” and “a shameful shakedown attempt” — claiming that Oher was well aware he had not been adopted.
ncG1vNJzZmimqaW8tMCNnKamZ2Jlf3R7j3Fma21fqbWmecGloKecXai2pbGMqamonKWYsrO%2FjKyYsmWWnrmuecisZKysmaG5bsLEq6CfoZGXubp5wK6roZ2eqbakecCmoJ1lnZ6wqa3EpWSooJWnwG64wLCqrqGkYq6orcinqq1lpKq8qcWMn5imoZyufA%3D%3D