Michael Oher’s high school football coach, Hugh Freeze, is giving his two cents on the former NFL star’s lawsuit against the Tuohy family.
“I think it’s sad. I certainly don’t claim to understand all the ins and outs of adoption, conservatory, all of that. I know what I witnessed,” Freeze, 53, stated in an interview with The Athletic on Thursday, August 17. “I witnessed a family that totally took in a young man and I think without that, there is no story.”
He went on to call the Tuohy family “admirable” for how they took Oher, 37, under their wing when he was a teen. Their story was the subject of the 2009 film The Blind Side, starring Quinton Aaron as Oher, Sandra Bullock as Leigh Anne Tuohy and Tim McGraw as Sean Tuohy.
“I know this: If Michael called Sean right now and said, ‘Let’s work this thing out,’ Sean and Leigh Anne would be there in a hurry to hug his neck and tell him he’s loved,” Freeze continued. “I hope he feels that. Until you walk in people’s shoes, I don’t claim to have all the answers to anything, but I think whatever happens will happen. The facts will come out. But I love both sides of it.”
The Blind Side’s Michael Oher and the Tuohy Family: Where Are They Now?
In the lawsuit, filed on Monday, August 14, Oher alleged that he was never formally adopted by the Tuohy family but rather was convinced by Leigh Anne, and Sean, both 63, to make them his conservators. Under the conservatorship, the couple had the legal authority to make business deals in his name.
In addition to asking for the conservatorship to be terminated, Oher also claimed he never profited from The Blind Side movie, whereas the couple and their two birth children — Collins, 36, and Sean “SJ” Jr., 30 — have made millions off the film.
What Michael Oher Said About the Tuohy Family Before Lawsuit
“I am disheartened by the revelation shared in the lawsuit today,” Oher, 37, said in a statement to the New York Post on Monday. “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.”
One day later, the Tuohy family’s lawyer Marty Singer told The Hollywood Reporter that they previously insisted “any money received [from the film] be divided equally” and that “they have made good on that pledge.”
Singer went on to allege that Oher threatened to “plant a negative story” about the family in the press unless they paid him $15 million.
Sean, for his part, called Oher’s lawsuit “insulting,” telling the Daily Memphian on Monday that the conservatorship was the only way Oher was allowed to attend college at the University of Mississippi. Leigh Anne and Sean’s attorney Steven Farese also revealed that Oher has been “estranged” from the family for 10 years and has become “more and more vocal and more and more threatening.”
‘The Blind Side’ Cast: Where Are They Now?
Author Michael Lewis — who penned the book from which The Blind Side was adapted — told The Washington Post on Wednesday, August 16, that Oher and the family were paid around $350,000 in royalties upon the film’s release. While the Tuohys planned to split the money with each family member, Lewis, 62, claimed Oher stopped cashing his checks. He believes the Tuohys deposited Oher’s money in a trust for him.
“What I feel really sad about is I watched the whole thing up close,” Lewis told the outlet. “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.”
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