"Blind Side" subject Michael Oher says family scammed him

[TimHauck 2,602]

9 hours ago, Gepetto said:

I knew this would come from some soft lefty. How's it racist? He's a black dude? I called him an athlete too, is athlete an insult or bigotry? Also, blacks are more likely to be butt hurt by white people and blame them and play the victim. Multi-million dollar athlete and he goes after his white adoptive parents that took him in, loved him and supported him. But whatever, you go white girl. If I was black I'd call him the N word and he'd deserve it. Truly pathetic what he's done here and says everything about him as a person, him specifically, not black people.

They never adopted him.

Yes he does seem to be lying about how much money they made from the movie, but it’s true that he was already a 5 star recruit and rated as the #5 OL in the country while already attending the same Christian school as the Tuohy children (and coached by Hugh Freeze) the year before he moved in with them.

So certainly seems likely that their generosity towards him was motivated by knowing how successful he could be as a football player, including trying to influence him to go to Ole Miss.   So I wouldn’t call them “evil,” but doubtful that they just helped him out of the kindness of their hearts.

The only thing I find odd about the statement from the movie company is that they called him “relatively unknown,” which wasn’t really true when the movie was released when he had already been drafted in the first round.  Even as a junior he was first team all-SEC and before college had scholarship offers from pretty much the whole SEC.  I thought I read something about the story was initially sold for the book from a few years earlier, and it was the book that sold the story to the movie or something, so if they’re referring to when the book came out is the only argument I can see for calling him “relatively unknown.”

[TimHauck 2,602]

9 hours ago, Gepetto said:

Well you were way wrong here. As usual.

Eh, that’s likely true.  All your link says is they did not make millions directly from the movie.  But they wrote their own book the year after the movie (“Sharing the Power of Cheerful Giving,” lol), Leigh Anne became a designer on Extreme Makeover Home Edition, I’m sure they did speaking engagements, etc.  Seems reasonable to conclude that they parlayed the success of the movie into millions from other opportunities, although yes they were already successful businesspeople.

[RLLD 4,143]

40 minutes ago, TimHauck said:

Eh, that’s likely true.  All your link says is they did not make millions directly from the movie.  But they wrote their own book the year after the movie (“Sharing the Power of Cheerful Giving,” lol), Leigh Anne became a designer on Extreme Makeover Home Edition, I’m sure they did speaking engagements, etc.  Seems reasonable to conclude that they parlayed the success of the movie into millions from other opportunities, although yes they were already successful businesspeople.

In his first memoir, Oher admits he knew he was in a conservatorship and was not adopted.

[TimHauck 2,602]

19 minutes ago, RLLD said:

In his first memoir, Oher admits he knew he was in a conservatorship and was not adopted.

I’m not saying Oher is the good guy here.  But they might all be bad guys

[Hardcore troubadour 14,919]

Best to just not get involved. 

[RLLD 4,143]

48 minutes ago, TimHauck said:

I’m not saying Oher is the good guy here.  But they might all be bad guys

I am witholding judgement here.  I suspect, though I am not 100% sure, that this family is on the up and up.  I think it could be true that someone in his life has been manipulating him into this little gambit.

[Vikings4ever 538]

2 hours ago, TimHauck said:

The only thing I find odd about the statement from the movie company is that they called him “relatively unknown,” which wasn’t really true when the movie was released when he had already been drafted in the first round.  Even as a junior he was first team all-SEC and before college had scholarship offers from pretty much the whole SEC.  I thought I read something about the story was initially sold for the book from a few years earlier, and it was the book that sold the story to the movie or something, so if they’re referring to when the book came out is the only argument I can see for calling him “relatively unknown.”

"Relatively" being the key word.

There's years of production before a movie gets released. Assume just 2 years prior that the deal was signed, how many football fans could name last year's all-SEC team? And among the general public, nil. So it's fair to say that the majority of the public had no idea who he before the movie.

[IGotWorms 4,057]

4 hours ago, TimHauck said:

They never adopted him.

Yes he does seem to be lying about how much money they made from the movie, but it’s true that he was already a 5 star recruit and rated as the #5 OL in the country while already attending the same Christian school as the Tuohy children (and coached by Hugh Freeze) the year before he moved in with them.

So certainly seems likely that their generosity towards him was motivated by knowing how successful he could be as a football player, including trying to influence him to go to Ole Miss.   So I wouldn’t call them “evil,” but doubtful that they just helped him out of the kindness of their hearts.

The only thing I find odd about the statement from the movie company is that they called him “relatively unknown,” which wasn’t really true when the movie was released when he had already been drafted in the first round.  Even as a junior he was first team all-SEC and before college had scholarship offers from pretty much the whole SEC.  I thought I read something about the story was initially sold for the book from a few years earlier, and it was the book that sold the story to the movie or something, so if they’re referring to when the book came out is the only argument I can see for calling him “relatively unknown.”

I don’t think he’s “lying about how much money they made from the movie.” That would be dumb since it would be easily proven false.

What I suspect is going on here is he’s saying they traded on the story generally to enrich themselves beyond any degree of what they previously had. And that he gets no cut of that, even though it was all based on their using the association with him, because he is not legally an heir since they never adopted him.

They are focusing on just the minute movie royalties part to avoid the larger picture, which is that their association with him, and the lie that they had “adopted” him as legally one of their own, has made them many millions of dollars.

Now where it does sound like Oher is fudging things is saying he didn’t know until recently that they never actually adopted him. It seems like he knew that part a long time ago. Maybe he didn’t understand the significance, or maybe he was okay with it then but isn’t now, but either way, it does seem like he knew a long time ago, and so there’s probably a pretty good argument for statute of limitations, laches etc to bar his suit.

[TimHauck 2,602]

35 minutes ago, IGotWorms said:

I don’t think he’s “lying about how much money they made from the movie.” That would be dumb since it would be easily proven false.

What I suspect is going on here is he’s saying they traded on the story generally to enrich themselves beyond any degree of what they previously had. And that he gets no cut of that, even though it was all based on their using the association with him, because he is not legally an heir since they never adopted him.

They are focusing on just the minute movie royalties part to avoid the larger picture, which is that their association with him, and the lie that they had “adopted” him as legally one of their own, has made them many millions of dollars.

Maybe, but in the article in the OP his lawyer states Oher “never received any money from the movie,” which was easily proven false (and was the thing that stood out to me the most when first reading the story).

It’s interesting because it seems like he’s doing the exact same thing they did (ride the coattails of the other’s success). They were just better at it.

[IGotWorms 4,057]

2 minutes ago, TimHauck said:

Maybe, but in the article in the OP his lawyer states Oher “never received any money from the movie,” which was easily proven false (and was the thing that stood out to me the most when first reading the story).

It’s interesting because it seems like he’s doing the exact same thing they did (ride the coattails of the other’s success). They were just better at it.

Yeah, probably. Seems like neither of them are pure. But he was only 18 and dirt poor when they took advantage of him, which to me does seem worse 

[TimHauck 2,602]

42 minutes ago, IGotWorms said:

I don’t think he’s “lying about how much money they made from the movie.” That would be dumb since it would be easily proven false.

What I suspect is going on here is he’s saying they traded on the story generally to enrich themselves beyond any degree of what they previously had. And that he gets no cut of that, even though it was all based on their using the association with him, because he is not legally an heir since they never adopted him.

They are focusing on just the minute movie royalties part to avoid the larger picture, which is that their association with him, and the lie that they had “adopted” him as legally one of their own, has made them many millions of dollars.

Now where it does sound like Oher is fudging things is saying he didn’t know until recently that they never actually adopted him. It seems like he knew that part a long time ago. Maybe he didn’t understand the significance, or maybe he was okay with it then but isn’t now, but either way, it does seem like he knew a long time ago, and so there’s probably a pretty good argument for statute of limitations, laches etc to bar his suit.

Also I think saying they earned “many millions of dollars” off of using their association with him could be a stretch now that we know they apparently only got about $400k between the 4 of them from the movie directly.  I guess depends on your definition of “many,” I’d believe like 5-10 maybe.

However Michael himself got over $30 million from his NFL contracts. Did the Tuohys get a cut of that?  I could see him being upset if they did but he didn’t get a cut of anything else they did using his name.

[IGotWorms 4,057]

27 minutes ago, TimHauck said:

Also I think saying they earned “many millions of dollars” off of using their association with him could be a stretch now that we know they apparently only got about $400k between the 4 of them from the movie directly.  I guess depends on your definition of “many,” I’d believe like 5-10 maybe.

However Michael himself got over $30 million from his NFL contracts. Did the Tuohys get a cut of that?  I could see him being upset if they did but he didn’t get a cut of anything else they did using his name.

No that’s exactly my point — it isn’t just about the movie. It’s about the speaking tours, and the books, and the restaurants, and the “charitable” foundation, and the many other ways they traded on this public persona tied to their association with him. That’s many many millions from the sound of it 

[TimHauck 2,602]

5 minutes ago, IGotWorms said:

No that’s exactly my point — it isn’t just about the movie. It’s about the speaking tours, and the books, and the restaurants, and the “charitable” foundation, and the many other ways they traded on this public persona tied to their association with him. That’s many many millions from the sound of it 

How many is many? 

I don’t think you can count the restaurants as being tied to Oher, didn’t they have that business already?  And it’s not like people are going to a particular Taco Bell because  it’s owned by Michael Other’s “family”

[IGotWorms 4,057]

2 minutes ago, TimHauck said:

How many is many? 

I don’t think you can count the restaurants as being tied to Oher, didn’t they have that business already?  And it’s not like people are going to a particular Taco Bell because  it’s owned by Michael Other’s “family”

That may be, I don’t know the details on the restaurants

[EternalShinyAndChrome 3,828]

4 hours ago, IGotWorms said:

That may be, I don’t know the details on the restaurants

You've never tried the Oher Enchiladas?

[Cloaca du jour 2,147]

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZT8YN7uHL/

[wiffleball 4,788]

Just a jerk move by oher. What I haven't seen mentioned in this thread is the fact that oher wouldn't have even made it into college much less the pros if he hadn't been tutored. I'm guessing he didn't pay for the tutor. Nor did he pay for food room and board. Nor clothing and all the other things that come with living with a family.

 

There's a lot of people who would kill to have a deal like that.

 

He would have been far better off in the long term by embracing the fairy tale. No Dumbo it's not a documentary.  As soon as he got his first big contract he should have bought one of their restaurants franchise. Especially since he basically sucked in the nfl.

 

Just the unmitigated lack of gratitude. Classless - and stupid. Just wait for his druggie mother to crawl out of the woodwork if she's still alive.

 He could have made a ton of money buying into the fairytale and touring the country with the family.  Hell, Tony Boselli is a multi-millionaire and never played a single down for the texans. But he owns about half the colorado franchise restaurants.Besides, he could have used that platform to clarify the inconsistencies between the movie  and real life.

 

Just providing the tutor alone can be proven to be a direct causality of oher making it to  college and then subsequently to the pros. So fine, countersue for a portion of his pro contract.

 

Almost undoubtedly, there is some 'community activist' or similar whispering in his ear. Oh by the way, he'll take his cut too.

 

I mean, where did his fulcking money go? Anybody know how much he made cumulatively in the nfl?

[WhiteWonder 2,675]

2 pages in and no one posted this gold? 

 

 

[jonmx 2,424]

The Tuohy family owned a company which had accumulated over 100 franchised restaurant such as Taco Bell and KFC and had sold them off for $215 million. The idea that they were motivated in taking him in by greed is laughable.  The whole basis of this lawsuit is based on lies.  Oher has probably squandered most of his wealth as many athletes tend to do, and now he has lawyers looking at this wealthy family hoping to score a payday.  The lawyers win regardless.  

[jonmx 2,424]

Oher earned over $34 million playing football and currently has an estimated net worth south of $100k.  Obviously this white family's fault who helped him.  

[RLLD 4,143]

This might not end well for him

[Wade Garrett 155]

6 hours ago, jonmx said:

Oher earned over $34 million playing football and currently has an estimated net worth south of $100k.  Obviously this white family's fault who helped him.  

For once you're correct. 

Blind squirrel and all that.

Oher will come out of this looking really bad.  

[MLCKAA 540]

7 hours ago, jonmx said:

Oher earned over $34 million playing football and currently has an estimated net worth south of $100k.  Obviously this white family's fault who helped him.  

They’re at fault for not getting him into a personal finance class.  Evil.  It’s systemic.  Build em up just to tear them down.

[TimHauck 2,602]

6 hours ago, jonmx said:

Oher earned over $34 million playing football and currently has an estimated net worth south of $100k.  Obviously this white family's fault who helped him.  

I believe you, but is there a link to him being worth less than $100k now?  I hadn’t seen that.

Just because they already had money, doesn’t mean it’s “laughable” that they’d be at least partially motivated to make more money.  Why write their own book about their experience with him then?   They definitely helped him succeed and wanted to do something good, but it’s not laughable that they also may have had other motives (even supporting their alma mater as one possible reason).

[RLLD 4,143]

Just now, TimHauck said:

I believe you, but is there a link to him being worth less than $100k now?  I hadn’t seen that.

Just because they already had money, doesn’t mean it’s “laughable” that they’d be at least partially motivated to make more money.  Why write their own book about their experience with him then?   They definitely helped him succeed and wanted to do something good, but it’s not laughable that they also may have had other motives (even supporting their alma mater as one possible reason).

You seem very willing to believe his story..... based on very little evidence.

[TimHauck 2,602]

26 minutes ago, RLLD said:

You seem very willing to believe his story..... based on very little evidence.

No I’m not.  My first post in this thread was about how I didn’t believe that he “didn’t make any money from the movie.”

All I’m saying is that the Tuohy’s generosity may have been motivated by more than Jesus.

[RLLD 4,143]

1 minute ago, TimHauck said:

No I’m not.  My first post in this thread was about how I didn’t believe that he “didn’t make any money from the movie.”

All I’m saying is that the Tuohy’s generosity may have been motivated by more than Jesus.

Could be.....could be....

[jonmx 2,424]

4 hours ago, TimHauck said:

I believe you, but is there a link to him being worth less than $100k now?  I hadn’t seen that.

Just because they already had money, doesn’t mean it’s “laughable” that they’d be at least partially motivated to make more money.  Why write their own book about their experience with him then?   They definitely helped him succeed and wanted to do something good, but it’s not laughable that they also may have had other motives (even supporting their alma mater as one possible reason).

Well sure, obviously if he was not a great athlete they would not help him.  They saw potential in him and it is cool to hobnob with star athletes.  I doubt they saw dollar signs, but it was more of an ego trip than out of love for the downtrodden.

[jonmx 2,424]

4 hours ago, TimHauck said:

I believe you, but is there a link to him being worth less than $100k now?  I hadn’t seen that.

Just because they already had money, doesn’t mean it’s “laughable” that they’d be at least partially motivated to make more money.  Why write their own book about their experience with him then?   They definitely helped him succeed and wanted to do something good, but it’s not laughable that they also may have had other motives (even supporting their alma mater as one possible reason).

Most sources say $16 million, based on some celebrity net worth database.   Not sure if I respect him more or less based on that.  

[TimHauck 2,602]

1 hour ago, jonmx said:

Well sure, obviously if he was not a great athlete they would not help him.  They saw potential in him and it is cool to hobnob with star athletes.  I doubt they saw dollar signs, but it was more of an ego trip than out of love for the downtrodden.

Agree

[WhiteWonder 2,675]

2 hours ago, jonmx said:

Well sure, obviously if he was not a great athlete they would not help him.  They saw potential in him and it is cool to hobnob with star athletes.  I doubt they saw dollar signs, but it was more of an ego trip than out of love for the downtrodden.

eh, admittedly I don't care much about the story... meaning the story of Michael Oher before all this. ... but these football states/football people can probably tell when a kid (as big and athletic as he was) has the potential to make it big. I wouldn't rule out seeing dollar signs in the slightest.  You said it's col to hobnob with star athletes. So they possibly thought he could be a star.... $$$. I doubt as a 16 year old, they were motivated by the simple thought of hanging out with a potential professional athlete. 

Would the wife be an author and motivational speaker if not for all this? 

 

was he actually adopted or not? If they never adopted him and simply had him sign paper making them conservators, It seems pretty suspect

[jonmx 2,424]

3 minutes ago, WhiteWonder said:

eh, admittedly I don't care much about the story... meaning the story of Michael Oher before all this. ... but these football states/football people can probably tell when a kid (as big and athletic is he was) has the potential to make it big. I wouldn't rule out seeing dollar signs in the slightest.  

Would the wife be an author and motivational speaker if not for all this? 

 

was he actually adopted or not? If they never adopted him and simply had him sign paper making them conservators, It seems pretty suspect

Why...it enabled him to get covered by theor insurance and get his driver's license. 

[WhiteWonder 2,675]

2 minutes ago, jonmx said:

Why...it enabled him to get covered by theor insurance and get his driver's license. 

Im not saying it was not helpful to him, but it would be fundamentally and legally different than actually being an adopted son, no?

I don't have a horse in the race. Seems like Oher pissed away a lot of his money and it also seems like the family made a decent amount of money off of him. Regardless of their own net worth. Having money in the first place doesn't stop greed. 

[TimHauck 2,602]

9 minutes ago, WhiteWonder said:

eh, admittedly I don't care much about the story... meaning the story of Michael Oher before all this. ... but these football states/football people can probably tell when a kid (as big and athletic as he was) has the potential to make it big. I wouldn't rule out seeing dollar signs in the slightest.  You said it's col to hobnob with star athletes. So they possibly thought he could be a star.... $$$. I doubt as a 16 year old, they were motivated by the simple thought of hanging out with a potential professional athlete. 

Would the wife be an author and motivational speaker if not for all this? 

 

was he actually adopted or not? If they never adopted him and simply had him sign paper making them conservators, It seems pretty suspect

He was already a 5 star recruit on the football team where their kids attended. I do think they were also motivated to recruit him for Ole Miss where they were boosters.

Although they said he couldn’t be adopted because he was 18 by that point, not sure but seems believable.

[WhiteWonder 2,675]

7 minutes ago, TimHauck said:

He was already a 5 star recruit on the football team where their kids attended. I do think they were also motivated to recruit him for Ole Miss where they were boosters.

Although they said he couldn’t be adopted because he was 18 by that point, not sure but seems believable.

yeah like i said im not going to pretend to know all the details of the backstory. I thought he came into their lives around 16. 

but without knowing everything, my feelings on football in the south (how seriously they take it) and the fact he was not just promising for his age but very clearly had the potential for much bigger things... I don't believe for a second that the family was not motivated by some greed. I would definitely agree they were prepping him for Ole Miss but I would also believe they envisioned a story / book / movie very early on.  No NFL?, no big deal. NFL? big time score. 

[Engorgeous George 2,124]

He should consult Colin Kaepernick about respecting one's adoptive parents.

[EternalShinyAndChrome 3,828]

38 minutes ago, WhiteWonder said:

yeah like i said im not going to pretend to know all the details of the backstory. I thought he came into their lives around 16. 

but without knowing everything, my feelings on football in the south (how seriously they take it) and the fact he was not just promising for his age but very clearly had the potential for much bigger things... I don't believe for a second that the family was not motivated by some greed. I would definitely agree they were prepping him for Ole Miss but I would also believe they envisioned a story / book / movie very early on.  No NFL?, no big deal. NFL? big time score. 

Why?  Because they were white?  You don't really know anything behind the motivations, TBH.

[WhiteWonder 2,675]

16 minutes ago, EternalShinyAndChrome said:

Why?  Because they were white?  You don't really know anything behind the motivations, TBH.

who said anything about race , has nothing to do with any remarks i've made, which I prefaced by saying I don't support one side or the other. 

[TimHauck 2,602]

18 minutes ago, EternalShinyAndChrome said:

Why?  Because they were white?  You don't really know anything behind the motivations, TBH.

Well we know he ended up going to Ole Miss, as did his high school football coach, who was the one that filled out Oher’s application to attend the private high school.  He apparently was already acquaintances with the Tuohy’s, I wouldn’t be surprised if having Oher live with them was his idea.  

[EternalShinyAndChrome 3,828]

13 minutes ago, TimHauck said:

Well we know he ended up going to Ole Miss, as did his high school football coach, who was the one that filled out Oher’s application to attend the private high school.  He apparently was already acquaintances with the Tuohy’s, I wouldn’t be surprised if having Oher live with them was his idea.  

Hmmm...you have inside information you're not telling everyone else?