'Be Mad at Hollywood!' 'Blind Side' Author Speaks on Oher, Tuohy Lawsuit
Seventeen years after publication, it appears that the end to Michael Lewis' most renowned story doesn't have an ending yet.
Lewis is the author of several best-sellers-turned-blockbusters such as "Moneyball" and "The Big Short." Despite each's success, none appear poised to leave the impact "The Blind Side" has: the 2009 film, detailing the story of former Baltimore Ravens offensive lineman Michael Oher, was thrust back into the spotlight after the real-life protagonist filed a lawsuit claiming was duped into signing a conservatorship that denied him profits from the award-winning picture.
The story first entered the spotlight in 2006, with Lewis' "The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game." In addition to examining the increased importance the position of left tackle has had on the game of football since quarterback Joe Theismann's devastating injury on a Lawrence Taylor sack during the 1985 NFL season, Lewis' book partly focused on Oher, an impoverished youth who was taken in by a wealthy Mississippi family, the Tuohys.
Oher went on to have an illustrious career at the Tuohys' alma mater, the University of Mississippi and was later drafted by the Ravens in the first round of the 2009 draft. He embarked on an eight-year NFL career after that, partaking in two Super Bowls (winning the 47th edition with the Ravens in 2013).
Of note, Lewis was a high school classmate of Tuohy family patriarch Sean.
With the story taking on a dark turn, Lewis has broken his silence around to Molly Hensley-Clancy and Ben Strauss of the Washington Post. He claims that observers' anger should not reside with either Oher or the Tuohys but rather with Hollywood accounting.
“Everybody should be mad at the Hollywood studio system. Michael Oher should join the writers' strike," Lewis said, referring to the ongoing labor disputes in the entertainment industry. "It’s outrageous how Hollywood accounting works, but the money is not in the Tuohys’ pockets.”
In his lawsuit, Oher claims that the Tuohys' conservatorship (which they claim was made in lieu of an unattainable legal adoption) denied him a share of the film's $309 million in box office draws while the family's biological children were well taken care of. Sean Tuohy said earlier this week that everyone in the family, including Oher, was paid $14,000 for the film.
Lewis says the eventual agreement with production company Alcon Entertainment (whose CEO was the Tuohys' neighbor and former FedEx exec Frederick Smith) yielded $350,000 each for himself and the family. He also said that the family planned to share royalties evenly, including a portion for Oher, but claimed that the lineman "began declining his royalty checks." Lewis believed that the Tuohys deposited Oher's royalties in a trust fund for his children.
In either case, Lewis is distraught over how far the situation has spiraled.
“What I feel really sad about is I watched the whole thing up close,” Lewis told The WaPo. “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.”
Geoff Magliocchetti is on Twitter @GeoffJMags
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