Michael Oher Allegedly Asked for $15 Million Before Accusing Family of Profiting off Lies

Michael Oher allegedly asked his family for $15 million before accusing his "adoptive" parents, Leigh Anne and Sean Tuohy, of profiting off him.

In a statement obtained by The Messenger, the Tuohy family — via their lawyer, Marty Singer — claim the retired NFL player threatened them ahead of filing a petition to end a conservatorship.

"Anyone with a modicum of common sense can see that the outlandish claims made by Michael Oher about the Tuohy family are hurtful and absurd," Singer says. "The idea that the Tuohys have ever sought to profit off Mr. Oher is not only offensive, it is transparently ridiculous."

"Through hard work and good fortune, Sean and Leigh Anne have made an extraordinary amount of money in the restaurant business," the statement continues. "The notion that a couple worth hundreds of millions of dollars would connive to withhold a few thousand dollars in profit participation payments from anyone — let alone from someone they loved as a son —defies belief."

Singer says Oher warned his family that he would "plant a negative story about them in the press unless they paid him $15 million."

"Unbeknownst to the public, Mr. Oher has actually attempted to run this play several times before — but it seems that numerous other lawyers stopped representing him once they saw the evidence and learned the truth," the statement reads. "Sadly, Mr. Oher has finally found a willing enabler and filed this ludicrous lawsuit as a cynical attempt to drum up attention in the middle of his latest book tour."

Reps for Oher did not immediately respond to The Messenger's request for comment.

In a petition filed Monday, Oher claimed that the well-to-do white family who supposedly adopted him instead tricked him into signing a document that named them as his conservators. As co-conservators, the Tuohys were legally authorized to make business deals in his name, the filing alleges.

"Since at least August of 2004, Conservators have allowed Michael, specifically, and the public, generally, to believe that Conservators adopted Michael and have used that untruth to gain financial advantages for themselves and the foundations which they own or which they exercise control," the petition says. "All monies made in said manner should in all conscience and equity be disgorged and paid over to the said ward, Michael Oher."

According to the documents, the Tuohys saw "a gullible young man whose athletic talent could be exploited for their own benefit."

Additionally, the petition further alleges that the Tuohys used their status to negotiate a contract with Fox for The Blind Side, which has amassed gross revenue of more than $330 million.

While Oher received "nothing" for "a story that would not have existed without him," the docs state, the Tuohys and their two children received "millions of dollars" in royalties.

In response, Singer says: "...over the years, the Tuohys have given Mr. Oher an equal cut of every penny received from The Blind Side. Even recently, when Mr. Oher started to threaten them about what he would do unless they paid him an eight-figure windfall, and, as part of that shakedown effort refused to cash the small profit checks from the Tuohys, they still deposited Mr. Oher's equal share into a trust account they set up for his son."

Additionally, Singer says that while the Tuohys will "never oppose" Oher's wish to end the conservatorship, they are "heartbroken" over what has transpired.

"The Tuohys will always care deeply for Mr. Oher," Singer concludes in the statement. "They are heartbroken over these events. They desperately hope that he comes to regret his recent decisions, makes different choices in the future and that they someday can be reconciled with him. In the meantime, however, they will not hesitate to defend their good names, stand up to this shakedown and defeat this offensive lawsuit."