The Blindside, the other side. The Thouy family responds in court. The Emily Show Ep. 214
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- Опубліковано 27 лип 2024
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Former NFL football player Michael Oher filed to terminate the conservatorship he was placed under in 2004. In the filing to terminate the conservatorship, he alleged that the Thouy family misled him for their own gain in portraying him as their adopted son. He asks for an accounting and has started seeking subpoenas to discover what was in the 20th Century Fox agreement signed over The Blindside and a subpoena to CAA, the agency which Oher alleges negotiated the movie contract on the Thouy families' behalf. Shortly after Ohers court filing, the Thouy family, through their lawyer, put out a statement refuting the allegations and alleging that Oher was demanding $15 Million from them in order not to place negative stories in the press against him. The Thouy family responded in court on September 14, 2023, arguing that the conservatorship may be terminated and that they don’t need to provide an accounting because this was only ever a conservatorship of the person; there was no estate and, therefore, no accounting. Finally, the Thouy family denies that they have signed contracts on Oher's behalf and states that the conservatorship was created only to allow Oher to consider playing football at Ole Miss without running afoul of NCAA guidance.
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2:51 Road So Far
6:00 Motion to Compel
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19:05 Tuohy's Response to Terminate Conservatorship
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He continued, “It kind of felt like a formality, as I'd been a part of the family for more than a year at that point. Since I was already over the age of eighteen and considered an adult by the state of Tennessee, Sean and Leigh Anne would be named as my 'legal conservators.' They explained to me that it means pretty much the exact same thing as 'adoptive parents,' but that the laws were just written in a way that took my age into account. Honestly, I didn't care what it was called. I was just happy that no one could argue that we weren't legally what we already knew was real: We were a family.”
When you get your greenchef delivery I assume that you look at your children and say, it's a sponsorship because... I'm a real UA-camr
Kind of sounds like this kid needed parents and to be adopted not a conservatorship apparently there are some pretty selfish motives there.
Usually you are very neutral. You seem a little bias. Like when you claim the story is Michael's but it also belongs to the Tuohy family, it was thier life experience too. Also in your suspicious comments about their motives, you ignore the very compelling motive to help Micheal. The fact that any monies recieved related to sports could disqualify Michael for a amateur status. What would be your motive to be bias against the Tuohy family? Just curious
It's entirely possible that he knew he was in a conservatorship without knowing what a conservatorship actually was -- which, IMO, is the same thing as not knowing he was in a conservatorship.
Ignorance of the law isn't a defense.
I don't think knowing what a conservatorship is would be considered "ignorance of the law" when an18 yr old was told what it meant & that it meant it was "the same as an adoption". He trusted them! And sorry but I'm no dummy but I'm not a lawyer, either, & until the mess with Spears, I'd no clue what a conservatorship is!! That's not ignorance but rather trust in Ohr's case ^; in mine, I had no reason to learn. Never been involved with such a thing AND pretty sure that's what lawyers are for!! Michael Ohr TRUSTED the Touhys & had no clue he shouldn't!! Ignorance? Nope, can't see him studying for the bar while playing football at his level!! He's not using it as a defense, either. He's saying he was told something entirely different!!
@@snappEturtle that's only relevant if you break a law, not if you were manipulated into signing a contract. If the Tuohy's lied to him about the conservatorship and the reasons for it, it would be misrepresentation and they are the ones legally liable for that.
He said they told him the conservatorship was as close as they could get to an adoption which couldn't happen because he was 18. He was 18 when he signed this paperwork - Noah 18 yo wouldn't understand the legalities.
They obviously discussed adoption with him because they told him they'd been told by lawyers that he couldn't get adopted at age 18.
@@snappEturtleit is when there is coercion and his attorney explained it to him in that way. At any rate, he’s not claiming damages, he is just looking for a release and accounting.
I maybe mistaken, but what I was understanding in Michael's filing was that they had made "conservator" sound like part of the adoption prosses.
Right that was my understanding. Something like, we can't adopt you bc you are over 18, but we will do this other thing
@@courtneywitherspoon8584you can legally adopt adults in Tennessee (and in many other states). If they wanted to include him as family in other legal ways, they could have started a living trust for him or something. Using a conservatorship for a purpose other than what conservatorships *should* be used for is incredibly suspicious. Even if they used it to try to get him a football contract, why keep him in one for 19 *years*?
That's what he wrote in his book. They told him that "legal conservator" was the same as them adopting him but it was called something different because he was over 18. They made it seem like they couldn't just adopt him because he was over 18, which is false. And telling him that what he signed was "the same" as an adoption was a blatant lie.
You can be adopted at any age…remember he was 18 and had been bounced from home to home. He said they told him they were adopting him.
@@nancydorn2524 they said it was "like" an adoption but they did call it "legal conservator". He states that in his book
The Tuohy’s blame Michael Oher for not setting up a foundation to receive $200k, but as the conservators they had all contracting authority for him. The conservatorship basically said he was unable to make these decisions for himself.
The Tuohy's have NEVER used the conservatorship to control Michael or any of his decisions! Not even in the NFL did they use their rights to control Michael's career. They didn't go into a conservatorship to control him!
Great point - their stories make no sense
But they are saying Michael signed all his own contracts they did not utilize the conservatorship other then getting him into college
@@comervwithus2788 True... Michael also himself signed his own contract with the movie studio ... hence the reason Michael is suing the Tuohy's instead of the movie studio which in fact earned the VAST BULK of the 300+ million the movie made!
@@covertpuppytwo3857 Especially if their are talks about a sequel with his image.
This is why we need accountability in conservatorships!!!!
Amen!!!!❤
We need accountability in everything involving the judicial system
Our judicial system is corrupt all the way to the Supreme Court. With no ethics and no accountability for corruption this country is really in a bad place
😅😅😅😅😊😅😊😅😊😊😊😊😊😅😅😅😊😊😊😮
Yessssssss
I think that Michael was given the impression at the time because of his age that his conservatorship was the same as being adopted…the fact that he had no lawyer provided to him by the court to explain this action speaks volumes…so when he spoke about his conservatorship in his book he was most likely under the impression that a conservatorship was the term used for an adult adoption …that he was for all intents and purposes adopted … it wasn’t until 2023 when he came to the full realization what a conservatorship in fact really was
That's exactly how I think he understood the term and therefore he didn't understand the real implication
That's exactly what it says in his book. That's what they told him and he had no reason not to trust them
@@daniellemartin9896 except he says in the book that he was a family Tuohy member even before the conservatorship and the conservatorship was just a FORMALITY! Funny how money can change one's priority.
The court was absolutely responsible for appointing a court representative for his interests. He was totally unrepresented. The family presented all of this to him. So unethical.
@@v.p.7828 unrepresented? This wasn't a trial court! There was no defendant and plaintiff. And actually, Michael in a way did have a representative at the hearing... HIS OWN BIOLOGICAL MOTHER!!!
He might not have understood what a conservatorship was, until Brittney went through all that to end it and it got publicized recently. I mean, I didn't even know that existed until I started following Brittney situation in 2020, and he was never dealt with as a conservatee in an obvious way where he might have taken a second look at it.
On the other hand, it's possible the Touhy family was under the same lack of information and the lawyers involved were the ones at fault and being naughty to get him into their school. Someone needs to look at the lawyers. Just trying to look at all sides.
A judge by law is allowed to proceed with a conservatorship if there is no objections from any party and the judge feels the conservatorship is in the best interest of the person. A person is NOT required to have some mental problems for a judge to approve a "conservatorship of person". Now look at the facts...
1. NO one including Michael, or his own biological mother objected to the conservatorship. Michael's biological mother was at the court hearing and consented to the conservatorship.
2. The conservatorship was being created for several reasons... all of which benefitted Michael.
In the Brittney case, her father took complete control of her finances and her life. The Tuohy's never did such a thing! So, tell me why you think someone needs to look at the lawyer? You need to ask yourself this question... if the Tuohy's never agreed to the conservatorship... would that have been better for Michael?
It's not even the same kind of conservatorship that Britney had. In Tennessee there are 3 basic kinds of conservatorships:
- Conservatorship of *Estate* . The authority to manage a person's finances.
- Conservatorship of *Person* . The authority to handle their personal health and life decisions.
- Conservatorship of *Person & Estate* . Authority over both.
The Tuohys picked the *Conservatorship of Person* with Michael Oher. If they were EVER after his (future) money, then why did they pick the one where they have NO CONTROL over his finances?
The one they picked makes perfect sense. If Oher made one wrong signature in the next 5 years, he could have totally blown his NCAA scholarship and eligibility to play football. (NCAA NIL rules) Considering Michael's history for not understanding what he is signing (and not remembering what he signed) this seems like a VERY wise thing to have control over his contract negotiations at least until the year 2009 when he graduated.
No way, the Thouys are smart people, they’re not stupid. They would have found out at some point if that was the case and would have done a proper adoption. They knew what it was, I think they wanted Micheal to be somewhat part of the family and they were looking out for his best interest but at the same time not give any of their inheritance to him and this was the best way to make it happen. Only legally he’s not part of the family and they knew that and that’s what hurts Micheal the most.
@@sarahrodriguez7101 The Tuohys came out back in August and released a statement that legal adoption was never really on the table. And if you read Michael Oher's 2011 autobiography, it makes perfect sense why:
_"There was just one condition for living with the Tuohys, and this had been made clear to me since I first started relying on them: They wanted to make sure I was going to keep a relationship with my birth family. At no point did they want there to be any kind of a feeling like they had taken me away from my mother, or kept me from her and made me cut all ties."_
He goes on to write about them insisting he visit her regularly, Sean giving his mom a job at one of his restaurants to try and keep her off drugs, bringing her to his football games, buying her what Oher calls _"a nice church dress"_ so she could come to senior night and stand with him out on the field _"as the seniors were escorted out on the field by their _*_parents_*_ "_
Oher's *own words* from 2011 make it clear that he fully understood that the Tuohys RESPECTED the relationship he had with his birth mother and likely would have never hurt his mother by adopting him away from her. They were probably sick over the fact that they had to ask her to sign over the *legal guardianship* of her son to them.
As for the inheritance, the Blind Side book casts doubt on that. There's at least 3 sections in there where it implies that they already had him in their will. No, the Tuohys considered him their son BEFORE they ever went to court that day, and based on what he wrote in his autobiography... so did Michael. "Conservatorship" wasn't a dirty word back in 2004. It allowed them to become his legal guardians which satisfied the NCAA... so they went for it. Michael Oher isn't "hurt", he's greedy.
@@sarahrodriguez7101 "Hurts Michael the most"? He hasn't spoken to them since 2017. He sent those nasty blackmail texts in 2020.... threatening them and calling them "thieves". He didn't even invite them to his wedding in 2022. How can you possibly believe that in 2023 he was "hurt" to learn that he's not related to people he's hated for 6 years?
In Michael’s book “I Beat the Odds: From Homelessness, to The Blind Side, and Beyond” on page 169, Michael notes “Sean and Leigh Anne would be named as my ‘legal conservators’. They explained to me that it means pretty much the exact same this as ‘adoptive parents,’ but the laws were just written in a way that took my age into account.”
Thank you. Everybody commenting “he knew it was a conservatorship, he wrote about it in the book” is obviously just parroting and didn’t read the book. His understanding of what a conservatorship was completely wrong thanks to them.
He knew it was not an adoption but as close to it as they were legally allowed so that he could play at Old Miss
@@kelleykdavisify seeing as (from the filings) that no one but the Thouys explained what a conservatorship was, it very well may have been his understanding that it was basically adoption. However, it is clear from his own words that it was clearly not a normal adult adoption.
Which would be a lie on their part, because adults can be formally adopted. My parents adopted my older sister at the age of 21.
So maybe he thought conservator == adult adaption? If so that’s kind of sad.
The thing that immediately struck me about the conservatorship is that Oher would have no claim on the Tuohys' estates. If he had been adopted, he would have a claim to an inheritance as a son and sibling.
They could have easily made a will and left him out of it. You don't have to leave any money to your children whether they are biologically yours or adopted.
@karysroberts9008 it's not easy you have obviously never dealt with a family with significant wealth.
@@karysroberts9008 That kind of stuff can and does get overturned.
@@AliciaL98 only under certain circumstances & the majority of people would not be able to overturn a valid will.
It all depends on where you live how ironclad a will might be. Where I live, in Canada, they can be pretty ironclad. My son will inherit his (deceased) father's portion of his grandmother's estate as well as his own portion. But some countries actually dictate who inherits how much.
We are friends with all of seven brothers who recently lost their Mom. She cut two sons - both of whom borrowed large sums of money which was never repaid - out of any inheritance and apportioned the rest in an unequal, but equitable manner. Four of the sons ran businesses from her property, including a garage and towing company that was started by her husband/their father, so the fifth got a little more cash. When she fell ill in her later years, one son moved home with her, while the rest visited infrequently - he inherits the house and the property it stands on, because he stepped up. They've mostly accepted their lots (we're close friends with sons from both sides - one getting nothing and another inheriting the family home) and it's unlikely a big court fight will happen. She was of sound mind when she made the will and fighting won't have an appreciable effect on her wishes.
Michael has said that they did tell him they were his conservators, but they told him it was basically adoption, but for adults. According to him, it was explained that it made him part of the family legally. It wasn't until 2023 that he learned what it really was and all of the implications. I wonder what would have happened if he had chosen another school would they have then stepped in and said no we don't think that's in your best interest, and if that was the point of the conservatorship? Possibly, he was allowed to make his own decisions because he always went with what they wanted.
In the book Michael wrote in 2009 he stated that he knew it was a conservatorship not an adoption.
@@EmmaChihuahua81Did he know what that meant?
@lindseytallent2855 When I read the quote... to me it read like he knew the word used but did not understand the meaning. He says in the book that it had to be different than adoption because if his age. Because if he signed any contracts or entered any deals... He would be made aware of the meaning by not being able to sign for anything. No contracts. ....bank accounts.... property purchase..... Investment Sales.... anything.
@@EmmaChihuahua81did you read the comment? If someone tells me what I just ate was an orange and I wrote down that “I ate an orange. it was flat, square shaped, dark brown, creamy and sweet” and then later learned what I actually ate was chocolate, you’re gonna say I knew it was chocolate?
@@EmmaChihuahua81 No. I have the book. He says that they told him he was essentially adopted even though they had to go around it a different way because it wasn't legal to adopt an adult. We know that isn't true. It is legal to adopt adults.
As I read the section, Michael did not say that he just found out it was a conservatorship, but that he just found out in 2023 that a conservatorship does not convey any familial rights, and it was different from an adoption.
That's BS too. Anyone who didn't know what a conservatorship was before 2021 got a full lesson on it when Britney Spears went through that nightmare with her dad. It was plastered all over the news for MONTHS. After that, we were ALL familiar with that word and what it means. Michael Oher *CLAIMS* that he just found out it was different from an adoption in *February of 2023.* Was he living in a CAVE for the last 2 years?
Back in the day, redirecting money to non-professional athletes was common. This was a big deal. Any monies recieved could have disqualify him to enter any non-professional sport. This placed Michael in a vulnerable place. I can't stress the HUGE disadvantage non-profesional athletes suffered and the policing of any monies they recieved. Also the advantage of any opponent to disqualify a serious athlete was a thing
Not the first time NCAA rules have only existed if you don't have the wealth to circumvent them. Very frustrating that the court went out of bounds to help them get around the rules.
Does this court not follow up on conservatorships even once? Or is this court malfeasance? "Yeah that's fine, wink wink."
How fair was it for expectations of no monetary compensation for being an athlete. The school profited but the athlete could not. The work around was to get money to the athlete without destroying his future.
That’s what the law is - a legal maneuver - to get around things
I think most people didn't know what a conservatorship was all about until Britney Spears' hit the fan. Michael may have thought that a conservatorship was another word for adoption or the way that adoption was handled. When speaking about this with others I have been surprised that there is a general lack of knowledge of what a conservatorship is and how it is used to control everything about a person's life.
The fact that a conservatorship was allowed just blows my mind. I don’t understand how a judge or attorney didn’t stop this.
Pretty sure one of the family friends was a conservatory lawyer?
Same thing happened with Britney they required zero evidence to strip her of her rights and money
Lol it’s the South. That judge went to Ole Miss. It was for years the regional law school and medical school.
Well, his mama was right there, so maybe that’s why.
I guess you don't know about Britney. Emily lacks to blame the government. It makes sense since she worked.. for the government llmao
It’s not HIS story. It’s THEIR story. They had no idea he would go on to play in the NFL and certainly had no inkling of a book and then movie. They opened their home and family to him. Perhaps there was an ulterior motive to get him to play at Ole Miss but where is the financial benefit to them for that?? They hired a tutor for him, moved her to Ole Miss and paid her to tutor him during college. Again, where is the benefit to them personally??
This is from Leigh Ann's website as of today 9/25/23. They are the proud parents of daughter, Collins, and sons, Michael Oher and Sean, Jr. Leigh Anne and Sean just celebrated their 40 year wedding anniversary.
Oher wrote his autobiography, I Beat The Odds: From Homelessness to The Blind Side and Beyond, in 2011.
(p142)"There was just one condition for living with the Tuohys, and this had been made clear to me since I first started relying on them: They wanted to make sure I was going to keep a relationship with my birth family. At no point did they want there to be any kind of a feeling like they had taken me away from my mother, or kept me from her and made me cut all ties." (p155) buying her what Oher calls "a nice church dress" so she could come to senior night and stand with him out on the field "as the seniors were escorted out on the field by their parents "
(p169)Oher had written about the paperwork he signed on that fateful day."It kind of felt like a formality, as I’d been a part of the family for more than a year at that point," he wrote in the book. "Since I was already over the age of eighteen and considered an adult by the state of Tennessee, Sean and Leigh Anne would be named as my 'legal conservators.' They explained to me that it means pretty much the exact same thing as 'adoptive parents,' but that the laws were just written in a way that took my age into account. Honestly, I didn’t care what it was called. I was just happy that no one could argue that we weren’t legally what we already knew was real: We were a family."
@@user-uq2ti7tj6kexactly. My in laws thought I was after their money for years, tried to get a prenup in place, and when my husband would not participate, they kicked him out, cut him off completely, and took away his trust fund through a complicated series of legal steps. We were just two college kids trying to figure everything out- it was truly a “blindside” for me as I had known his family since I was four. But because I was from a family of lower economic standings than theirs, I was not good enough. This December, we will celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary. My in laws did not attend our wedding, but after many years, we have reconciled. It’s been incredibly hard to forgive, but I have tried. It’s a work in progress. But- all this to say that everyone in my story was the same race, from the same town- my husband and I started preschool together and graduated from the University of Georgia together- all the way through, they knew me. So rich people might be doing rich people shit regardless of your race, their race, whatever.
Also, I am keeping an open mind in this story. While I can absolutely empathize if Michael was taken advantage of by a wealthy family with lawyers and power… I know several families in my hometown who did similar things for students in need. As a former public school teacher for 15 years, I’ve bought countless kids food, clothes, shoes, bedding, sports equipment, school supplies, etc. We contributed with other teachers’ families to buy a student in a similar situation as Michael’s a used car and a laptop for him to use for college- he was living with a teacher friend at that time. Sometimes people are just helping, not taking advantage. Perhaps they negotiated poorly on his behalf due to their own wealth and “not needing the money”… but until I see that was done maliciously in some evidence, it seems like it might be hurt feelings over money. And if I learned anything 20 years ago, it’s that more money truly does mean more problems a lot of the time. 😔
@@user-uq2ti7tj6k I mean we have a whole 400 years of American history that could make it feasible that race played into this in some capacity. It’s not reinforcing biases for people to go by their own lived experience, understanding of national, regional, and local culture, as well as historical precedence and think race could play a factor. There can also be genuine affection and love and prejudiced attitudes and exploitation occurring simultaneously.
@@user-uq2ti7tj6kI agree with you to an extent. In Tennessee (and many states), you can legally adopt an adult. The fact that the Touhys specifically chose the conservator route versus the adult adoption route is what raises eyebrows. I'm sure Britney's family genuinely love her, but sometimes family members, blood or not, make poor decisions towards their loved ones. Definitely waiting to see the full evidence though since this seems sus all around.....
Oh yes these things can happen AT THE SAME TIME! I have experienced that for myself. Sad but very true.
@@user-uq2ti7tj6k The reality though is that this isn’t just like a “normal family” for a variety of reasons. They did not establish conservatorships for their bio children. This is a kid who they knew for barely a few years who they quickly seemed to monetize. The power dynamic was extreme, not solely because of race but also class, community influence, and education level among other factors. He was literally relying on them for a roof over his head. There is also the very real history of the exploitation of poor, black, and brown athletes, and the specific culture of the south and the kind of affluent community the Tuohys came from that further raises alarm bells. There is a lot to find suspicious about this situation.
I only know some about how conservatorships work in California. You need orders ever other year to continue conservatorship. It's suppose to end if it lapses. How in the actual hell was there never anything on the docket as Emily states. There is also supposed to be a Court Investigator's report with every order to continue conservatorship. Yo Tennesse, do ya'll have no checks and balances?
As an adoptive mom, this story just makes me so incredibly sad. What happens after all of this is that a family or what was assumed to be a family is so completely broken. 😢
I am Switzerland until I see the numbers and the accounting. Show me the money trail. Numbers don't lie. If they are the hot garbage Michael accuses them of being, the money trail will show us.
My guess this is more about Michaels feeling of another betrayal by that family. He has money.
Just out of curiosity I wonder what Michael's current finances indicate.
@@annegrasser377 - Well, if as they have stated, he was trying to get them to pay him 15 million, my guess it, he's not doing so great financially.
They SAID he wanted 15 mill but haven’t provided any proof of that. In the legal filings all Oher is asking for is an end to conservatorship and accounting for it….nothing wrong with that. No hot garbage indicated.
@@stephm.3407they were big rich before he came along and they are still big rich. His NFL monies doesn’t compare to what they had or have. I’m guessing he overspent and needs money. Funny he says he just found out he wasn’t adopted before his next book comes out. It’s an old Hollywood trick. Create a scandal and become relevant again.
IMHO, the Tuohys choose to apply conservatorship instead of legal adoption because they are the ones with assets and with conservatorship they would be able to protect their assets but also able to support Michael legally.
Sound practice IMO
From the info I’ve heard, Michael Oher didn’t have any money until he started getting paid from the NFL. They bought him clothes, shoes, Groceries . They paid his tuition for four years of College. They bought him a TRUCK and paid his Health Ins. for many years. They stated that Michael was given an equal share of money from the movie. He has written books, about his life. I really think he is trying to pull a fast one. (Lying) but we shall see. He heard how much money the movie made and wants more. The ppl that make a movie get the profits. The parties who were the subject of the movie get a few thousand dollars, not the major money. The actors, director and crew have to get paid.
Yes, only money matters. Not belonging to a family or having some say over your own image.
Trying to figure out why he isn’t suing his biological mom for neglect and abuse. Just saying. He’d be in a gang or dead if not for the Touhy’s. Just proves that the road to hell is paved with good intentions.
@@patricekanagy5898 An inane comment. He’s wanting control over his image at risk since movie industry is in process of legalizing AI production of images to compound their investment in subsequent movies. With unlimited use of anyone’s image or story that is theirs by contract.
@@Ketowskiif he is looking for compensation then yes money matters🤷
@@TheGMAT16 He might be looking for something entirely different. Including having proprietary rights of his image sold out from under him by people he trusted. Courts don’t usually involve themselves in family matters involving adults, so there need to be financial matters brought to them.
I keep going back and forth on this one. There’s a lot of questions I still have and I’m eager to see the actual records come in that have been subpoenaed. The schools, the agencies, the contracts, the checks that were given to him, etc. I also want to know why Michael has been estranged from them since 2010. Additionally, it doesn’t sit right that the only reason for the conservatorship was to basically cheat NCAA rules. I do not think that they wanted to gain monetarily from him, as they are rich AF, but I’m also not convinced that they were acting in his best interests either. I need to do some research on “boosters,” because that keeps being mentioned and idk 🤷♀️ really anything about it.
This is reminiscent of pledged vs donated.
How does the court allow this to happen? That is the question. How does NCAA okay with this?
The NCAA in the 90's was ok with a LOT of shenanigans. I saw now famous basketball athletes driving new cars, supposedly supplied by donors (allegedly). I know of stories of cash being deposited into the helmets of players after winning football games at various universities, allegedly to help struggling college students (because they weren't paid). It's a dirty secret.
The NCAA realized that this kid meant so much to this family that they were willing to do this. It proves that they weren't just shopping around for a high school football star and bribing him to come to the school they support.
The court allowed it to happen because:
1) It was CLEARLY in Michael's best interest
2) He was an adult and could end it any time he wanted to
3) His birth mother approved it.
The judge correctly recognized it as a total win-win for Michael.... it was a no-brainer.
As for the NCAA, they did an investigation and saw enough to convince them that Michael Oher really was a part of the Touhy family. If the fact that they were his legal guardians affected their ruling, then the conservatorship achieved it's goal.
I have concerns about anyone placed in a conservatorship that hasn't been reviewed regularly by the courts. Even an accounting of nothing in, nothing out is a statement for the courts to review, and possibly bring up earlier than this that the conservatorship wasn't appropriate given the circumstances. Even if they didn't exercise the full power of conservator, they had that power and they should not have had it; the conservatee did not meet the requirements for having this potential curtailment of his rights. There are so many caught in this situation that need a more diligent court review.
I don't know if this is abuse in the US but in the UK this looks like and feels like financial abuse.
I can only imagine how crushed Michael must have felt once he realized that his "adoption" was something else altogether. 😢
Yeah, maybe he should read the book he wrote back in 2011. That might remind him how he felt back then.... that he didn't *need* some piece of paper telling him what he already knew.... that they were a family.
If the only reason for the Conservatorship was for him to go to Old Miss, then why did they lead him and the rest of the world to believe they adopted him!
*Ole* Miss
Money money money. You can never have enough. There's no such thing as to rich to scam.
Maybe because he lived in their home they loved him and felt like he was a son…..you don’t need blood or a piece of paper to be family
Good morning, EDB, Lawnerds, Pawnerds, and anyone else who's watching today!
I want to know more please cover this!!! In the book when Michael says he’s in a conservatorship, I don’t think he understood what it was at all. In the same area of the book he says the conservatorship was how he could be a member of the family. I think the Tully’s told him they could not adopted him due to his age, but if he signed the conservatorship he would basically be an official family member. I think when he says he recently learned about the conservatorship. He meant he learned what it truly meant.
Yes you said it. It is all of their story. It's sad to see it come to this
Emily the one question we all have is "WHERE IS THE MONEY?!!!!" Good evening from Kenya 🇰🇪
For some reason I feel like asking “where is the money?” Has “Where is Gamora?” Vibes. Good morning from St. Louis!
@@r.carmichael4236what is gamorra haha
I wonder if they misrepresented what a conservatorship is to him. If he thought it was the same or on par with adoption I can see why he would be upset.
That's exactly what they did. In his book he always talks about the conservatorship in the context of they told him it was adoption for people 18 and over.
@NottyAries It's so sad. Lots of people are saying he should be grateful because they had money but he thought he had a family. Money isn't everything.
I'm so confused by this. If I had concerns that the Thouy's were unduly influencing Michael to go to their school I would be *even more concerned* if they had him in a conservatorship that he doesn't meet the legal requirements to be in. How did the NCAA allow this? This makes no sense!
Conservatorships aren't *usually* done unless the individual has mental health or physiological problems. "Usually" doesn't mean that those conditions are *mandatory* . The NCAA does these investigations to find boosters who have a "pay-for-play" business agreement with the student athlete. In this case they see:
- they were willing to become his legal guardians
- he was willing to let them assume that role
- his birth mother approved it
That shows the NCAA that the Tuohys have some "skin in the game" and this is not just some business deal
Didn't Leigh Anne Tuohy build a foundation and make bank off the speaking tour based upon her claim to have adopted Michael?
Yup!!!
She calls him her "adopted son" and talks about "taking him in", but she never claims that she *legally* adopted him.
@@aldoabruzzi6417 Oh come on. She said she adopted him. She didn't.
YES ! They are not to be trusted. The Tuohy’s lied to everyone. Now they are singing a new tune. What do they have to hide ?
@@aldoabruzzi6417 why do you have to say “legally “ ? What other type of adoption is there ? Not legal Adoption ? Mrs Touhy started a foundation for Adoption. Was it , “ how to Adopt non legal ?” 🤷♀️
Also, he is a part of their story. The movie was about the whole family.
I'm wondering if his wife is pressuring him to get what he is owed. And that is acting as a wedge with Touhys (sp?)....
1. He knew he was not adopted. 2. It was not just his story. 3. Conservatorship didnt involve money.
Regardless of the details, everyone took advantage of the system, except perhaps Orr, to have a talented football player attend a specific university. It's all shady from the courts to the family to the University.
Thank you Emily! You're the only one who has actually approached this from a legal standpoint. Everyone else are not only practicing lazy journalism but getting caught up in the sentimentality of the story and not the facts. This also applies to those claiming Michael "knew" he wasn't adopted based on what he said in his book in 2011 when it's clear in his book that he didn't realize that adoption and Conservatorship weren't the same. He said in the book that it was the Thouy who told him he wasn't adopted but being under a Conservatorship was the same. We all now know by now that it's not. Also, if the Thouy are now publicly admitting they didn’t adopt Michael, then they are saying it was all a lie. The movie was based off of the book the friend wrote and based off of the feel good story of the family adopting Michael and turning his life around. The family started a Foundation based on the image they were peddling. The movie wasn't based on Conservatorship.🤦♀️🤦♀️
Natalie lawyer chick also covered this. There are also a few people talking about more in depth here on UA-cam.
The movie was clear if one was paying attention, that he wasn't being adopted. LeAnn is having lunch with her friends, and one makes a snide comment about her adopting him. She replies that it doesn't make sense because he's almost 18. They don't specifically indicate what legal course they take, but not adoption.
@@stephm.3407 the movie... the one thing that was 95% untrue is what you're going with?
So...we'll just ignore the fact that they built an entire organization and got paid thousands of dollars in speaking engagements and lectures all about the good and bad about adopting, and all the times they alluded to, implied and the one or two times they actually said he was adopted?
Not to mention when this story first broke the "father's" statement said, "we talked to lawyers about adoption but we were told he was too old (at 18)." But now they say we never discussed or intended to adopt him.
They've been lying to the world this entire time, but now, all of a sudden everyone wants to believe that these nice kind, rich, white folks were all on the up and up about everything. 🙄 gtfoh 😂😂 That'll be a NO for me.
@@stephm.3407 , The bottomline is, they used Michael. Sean was a Booster who was very much aware of Michael's football status and personal life. Michael life wasn't stable at all and it appears even from the book everyone is using to satisfy their belief that Michael was aware that he wasn't adopted, the Thouy's controlled the Conservatorship vs. Adoption narrative and made him believe they were one and the same.
@@NottyAries , What many people don't understand is, so many families use the term adoption to make themselves look good. Sadly, as those who are part of such reality grow up, they realize the harsh reality. You're not suppose to question being adopted or it's seen as you being ungrateful, case in point is Michael. It's an unfortunate stigma those with selfish agenda manipulate.
For years they've implied to the world he was adopted. They built an entire foundation and for paid in thousands giving lectures and speaking engagements talking about adoption.
They've never said out loud in all their speeches and presentations that he was NOT adopted.
Also, their response that they were told that Michael couldn't be adopted as an adult proves that an adoption was talked about with Michael.
The movie was clear they didn't adopt him.
But their media tour and own words didn’t make anything clear…..
@@stephm.3407 the pro-adoption organization they created and all the speaking engagements where they were paid thousands to talk about the highs and lows of adopting, PLUS appearing on TV talkshows as an adoption guru.... Says otherwise.
In the "father's" first statement he CLEARLY said they talked to an attorney about adoption but was told Michael at age 18 was too old. But in this statement via his attorney, they stay they never discussed or implied adoption. THAT alone is BS because it proves they're lying. Yay for some reason, and I can't guess white for, you're hell bent on believing everything he says.
@@basicallyno1722In the Tuohy's 2010 book, In a Heartbeat: Sharing the Power of Cheerful Giving, the Tuohys and their co-author Sally Jenkins explicitly frame their relationship with Oher as an adopted son.
The words “adopt” and “adoption” appear 35 times throughout the book, while the words “conservator” and “conservatorship” are not written once. The word “guardians,” however, does appear. Their biological daughter, Collins Tuohy, also writes in the book that it was her understanding the family was “adopting” Oher.
In chapters attributed to Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy, the couple writes that “the biggest event for all of us that spring [2004] was our adoption of Michael.”
@@NottyAries 💯 Agree
If you listen to the author (friend of the Thouy family) in a recorded interview.. you will be absolutely disgusted with how horribly he speaks of Michael. It was absolutely APPALLING that someone who made money off of Michael’s story would speak so incredibly disparagingly about a young man who worked his butt off to be successful in sports as well as VERY impressive academic achievements.. this family makes me sick.
I read his book a few years ago, even if he does acknowledge the existence of the conservatorship, I don't believe he understood it to be what it truly was. Will that make a difference?
If the touhys intentionally misled him to believe the two were equal, then yes it matters. It indicates that the touhys had engaged in duplicitous actions
That’s not the worst part of it they did not get Micheal and his mother their own lawyer that would served in their best interests. Can somebody explain to me how one lawyer can represent all four parties without it being fishy specially when that lawyer is a family member of the Thouy’s. What I hate the most is some people convince themselves that the Thouy’s did not have an agenda in mind because they were already rich now I see why it’s only ten percent of the population that is rich like when someone gets rich they stop wanting more money. I know a few rich people in my lifetime to know most rich people have to be ruthless and they have to sheds some of their conscious and some of their humanity to stay rich and their number one sin is gluttony and they relish on it also the Thouy’s wanted fame to get even richer we did not know who these people were before they met Michael they seen an opportunity they take it and the Thouy’s are very calculated I believe for the Thouy’s it was all Business and poor Michael did believe that he had found a good family but now he found out the whole truth and everything they had told was all a lie I think that broke him 😡😔
At first I was on Oher's side, but the more holes get poked, the more it sounds like he made a bunch of football money, but didn't have a post football plan, and eventually went broke or close to it. He expected his rich adopted "Mom and Dad" to bail him out. When they didn't, he got real resentful and thats led to this.
I do wonder what he expects. Even if he was adopted, he’s not entitled to their wealth. However, I have always noticed his reluctance to embrace the blindside story (drugs, ignorance, lack of football experience etc.). He definitely didn’t like the negative portrayals, and distanced himself from the story.
Unfortunately, I am convinced that the Thouys influenced his decision to attend Ole Miss.
So, were they just basically recruiting for their university’s football team…using a loophole to get him in? They might call him son and he might come to holiday dinners, but maybe he found out that he wasn't really considered that. Also, why would everyone in the family receive an equal share of the movie rights? What did the other kids have to do with Michael's story? I agree with you that he should have received a larger share.
_"but maybe he found out that he wasn't really considered that."_ - Yea, mysteriously after he learned the movie earned $300 million in profit and his mistaken belief that the Tuohy's earned millions!
@@covertpuppytwo3857 It certainly could be an attempt at a money grab on his part. His football career is over and maybe he didn’t plan well.
I would like to know how much money the family made off of his name. Aside from the movie, what have they gained? I wonder what the real motivation is. Is he ticked off because he’s not entitled to inheritance?
@@carolynwilson7806 Made off his name? The book, the movie and everything else afterwards that EACH of them made... was not based off a name but instead an event! An event that included ALL OF THEM so no one person in these events is entitled to the story! In fact, Michael Oher wasn't even the starring role in the movie the Blindside!
@@carolynwilson7806 They have a reputation as magnanimous people and notoriety around their experience with “Adoption”. It’s not always about money. They had a family friend write
His Story and then sold the rights to his image. Because of the Conservatorship, he had no right to do that on his own behalf.
Now his image is being used on their site and in a movie that the studio is Legally Entitled to make a sequel of.
Paragraph 10 said something to the effect of Michael thought the conservatorship equaled him being a part of the family. I believe he just found out he was not legally their son
@EDB I question you on the intent of only “his” story. it’s the family story as well otherwise we would have only see the Michael character as 90% of storyline
Thanks Emily! Yes, please look into the NCAA investigation.
That contradicts what they said before. They said they were told they couldn't adopt him because he was over 18 years old... They did imply they wanted to adopt him.
Exactly! So which is it?
My biggest problem with their statements is they said they didnt benefit because they didnt need it, but they never thought he might need it, and didnt do anything to make sure he got paid for his story/portect him for the story.if you really thought of this person as your son, why wouldn't you do this? Did their other children get a trust fund, and if so, did he get one?
I'm curious about that too. I know that they set up a trust for his son but I wonder of he has one as well.
@@bdylan225they say they did when he didnt wanted to Cash the checks for the movie, since is easy to verify that i wouldnt see a point to lied about that
They split the money they received from the book author 5 ways, paying the taxes on his share. He refused the checks for royalties so they put the money in a trust for his son, his only child at the time.
The trickery is that he thought he was family legally.
He might not have understood the full extent of what a concervatorship entails at the moment of writting his book. Still going with the reasoning they initially provided him all the way back then.
That it's only following all the information coming out of the Britney concervatorship that he decided to dig deeper into his own
Exactly! Using the word doesn't mean he fully understood what it meant. They said to him and everyone he was adopted
His desire to have some control over his own image is legally legit. They refused to remove his images regarding their disingenuous claim of “Adoption process”. They gained in having their names and Magnanimous reputation become famous.
Now he’s supposed to just stay quiet and impotent?
I personally think if the Thouy family took more than Michael thought, it was a simple misunderstanding and not an effort to take money from him. The real question in my mind is that this is not just his story but the Thouy family story also. All appearances is that they did not stop him from negotiating his own contracts after college and he went on to make millions and nothing I have heard indicates the Thouy's got a dime of that.
Oher has blown through the $34 million he earned in the NFL and is looking for more money. End of story.
lol no. He’s worth over 15 mil.
@@tinan97478 yeah right
If the NCAA told them they had to adopt him or put him in a conservatorship, it's fairly reasonable to assume that the NCAA violated their own rules. Which is the most NCAA thing ever.
Haha. Yeah, the NCAA gonna NCAA.
Aunt Deb, their lawyer advised the lawyers to put him in a conservatorship.
@@musanyathi2298 Where did you get that information?
I thought it said in the original claim that he knew he signed 'a conservatorship' but that his parents and the Court said this was just another term for adoption. 🖤
That's exactly what he said
Even though you think it sounded unkind for them to state funds that they did provide but they have the right to represent their side.
Emily with this hair length is superior and here’s why.. when she gets spicy it sways back and forth like her earrings and just adds to the mood.
I was just thinking this !
I would focus on the job at hand. I don't know why we have to point out body characteristics in this setting.
Emily, go look at the original filing they filed for the conservatorship. They only wanted until 25 years old, which was the NCAA rule at the time.
It comes down to after college they never did anything because they seemed to think it was over.
For whatever reason the judge dropped the age request, causing all this BS.
To me it would make sense to remove the part where it expires at 25. I would think that if the NCAA saw that their legal guardianship expires shortly after he graduated, it would seem like a red flag showing that they were just doing this *temporarily* to get around their booster rules.
Didn't he say in his initial pleading that he knew it was a conservatorship, but he thought a conservatorship was like an adoption and he didn't understand that it was not an adoption until recently.
I wonder about the narrative that Blindside is strictly about using Michael's name and his situation. Isn't it equally about a family that reached out to help someone who they saw had a need? Doesn't it also portray the struggles they encountered from their peer group and how they opted to defend their choice to give to another in a way most don't, or at least in the typical social circle they were associated with? If Michael were of a different ethnicity/race yet living in the same situation would this story be different? How many families with school age kids would take in another child, without state help (foster care) and feed, clothe, support, send to private school, or even take the time and energy advocate for services in a public school? I watch Blindside as the story of what can happen when people care about others and/or are given opportunities as simple as food and shelter and love, which for too many is not simple. I find it sad that this family, including Michael who considered the T's as his family is having a public microscope put on to what is at the heart an emotional journey for all.
The movie is fictious. It does a lot to twist a typical booster/athlete relationship into a familial one. Athletic boosters are widely shunned, yet are very prevalent throughout high school and college sports. Much of the financial support of Michael Oher is wildly overstated, given he already had a scholarship to the private high school he was already attending before he met the Tuohys. I've yet to see a private high school with a decent sports program that didn't offer tutoring, and any D-1 College program offers plenty of tutors on staff. They fed, housed, and clothed him, but Michael was getting that from the parents of his friends even before meeting Sean Tuohy. What people don't talk about is the other student athletes the Tuohys financially supported before and after Michael Oher.
They were ole miss booster. He was a star they wanted him at ole miss and wanted to circumvent the ncaa. The story was mostly fictitious .
Film rights can be sold before the book is finished.
I remember the Devil Wears Prada, the film rights had been sold before the book was finished, the the film has a totally different 3rd act because the studio didn't like the ending of the book, but didn't know that when they bought the rights.
I had no idea... I love the movie and haven't ever read the book but now I need to ....
@@TheEmilyDBaker the book also has a sequel.
They absolutely did make a big scene in the movie they negotiated, showing a “sit down family meeting” telling him they wanted to adopt him.
Further, my thoughts are that they intended to somehow create a movie of his life with him. It was was clearly depicted in “The Blind Side” that they wanted to adopt him-or the very least, Michael Oher thought they were adopting him. I think the conservatorship was created for making the movie, which enriched them greatly monetarily- and they probably did not adopt him because he would have had the same rights as naturally born children as far as inheritance-the most likely reason to create the conservatorship was to give them legal rights in negotiating the movie, under the guise of adoption. He signed what they told him to sign. They most likely only created the conservatorship so he could attend Ole Miss, plus a friend of the Tuohy’s actually wrote Michael’s book.
Don’t see any digs when they say they say they paid his tax. If so, he owes them for that. Fair to state it, methinks
Given this conservatorship, how was Oher able to sign contracts in the NFL?
This is just my guess, but if Oher didn't know he was in a conservatorship (or didn't know what that meant), the NFL wouldn't have known that he was in a conservatorship, and no one would have known that he couldn't legally sign those contracts. Which brings up an interesting thought... Are those contracts not actually legally binding since Oher wasn't technically allowed to sign them? Would that have any implications going forward?
The Tuohys have said they didn’t enforce it, but that’s kinda beside the point. They were supposed to. And just because there wasn’t an estate didn’t mean that money and value wasn’t involved and that they shouldn’t have been reporting.
I hate thinking so badly of people, but I don’t know of any way to read this than a modern version of slavery. And just because they weren’t as bad as they could have been doesn’t mean that what they did was right in any sense of the word.
@@jediping I think what bothers me the most is that they *could* have adopted him but chose not to. They chose to call him their son, they chose to profit off of his story, they chose to take legal steps to ensure he was able to play at Ole Miss... but they didn't choose to adopt him. It feels like they're saying, "You're like family to us, but not *that* much like family."
There seems to be a lot of things done that doesn't make sense. I believe the father's friend, who wrote the book and the movie was based on, might be a strong clue. I am getting the impression that the Conservatorship was drawn up for very selective agenda in mind and not to control all of Michael's financial situation.
@@ryleighsweet2375 he signed knowing the Touhys was there to help him
In an episode of Below Deck, Sean said he had last say on the decisions in the film
So? Not sure where you're going with that one. The one thing nobody ever mentions about that Below Deck episode... Sean Tuohy acted like the money they made off the film was no big deal. Like he didn't care about the money at all and thought it would be a hoot to have Hollywood make a movie about his family. That Below Deck segment actually makes it harder for me to believe that they would be hiding movie money from Michael.
The way he states it in the book is much like could easily be interpreted that HIS understanding was that is what it was called when an adult gets adopted. Which is much like what he says in his petition.
I think people around him started whispering in his ear he was taken advantage of.. look at oher gpa when he started school.. the tuhly provided him with the resources he need to even qualify to go to college to play football.. he came to them with the clothes on his back and I don’t think they got any state money for him.. they also got him tutoring $$$
So where would he be if he didn’t meet the tuhly and they didn’t take him in??
Recommend Savy Writes Books 4 hour doc, which goes through FOUR books published about Oher (only 1 by him) and discusses the adoption process as well. She also interviewed two journalists and reviewed the film. Between that and EDB's legal coverage, it seems pretty clear that this was intentional to get around NCAA.
Read paragraph 14. His lawyers clearly have this contract and they see his signature on it. It is not signed by a conservator. It is signed by him. So it wasn’t the Thouy’s signing under the conservatorship.
It all sounds like the Tuohy' did not explain things completely to MO and kept information hidden from him... to keep some $power$ while being under the law? It doesn't sound like protection, really. More like protection for them while benefitting. We need to examine those dates.
All you really have is Michael's *CLAIM* that they explained it to him that way. Basically a "he said / they said" from 19 YEARS ago. What protection did they need and how did they benefit?
In the book, he said “he is in conservatorship” because that was over 18 and that is how he can be part of the family.
if he knew before the current events, then maybe actually seeing the legal documents for himself made him go...okay that's way more effed than I'd imagined
But it's not true. An adult CAN be adopted in that State.
@@jeninga1976-v3sright. He thought the conservatorship was an adult adoption. He that adult adoption was called a conservatorship.
The majority of 18 yr. olds have no idea about conservatorships. The court didn’t need to grant a conservatorship. This was a very strange decision.
Hi Emily. Going back to yesterday’s stream, there is a song in Australia by James Reyne in 2002 called (still thinking ’bout the) “Fall of Rome”
Female here, I think about Rome nearly daily and am so perplexed by people who don’t think about Rome. Just… HOW do you NOT?
Look at the NCAA investigation for sure!!
Seems to me like he is trying to extort them for money. Considering the conservatorship resulted in him getting a scholarship to Ole Miss-which I would imagine is at least valued at $100,000 or more in free tuition-it seems to me that he was the one that benefited most from the conservatorship.
I feel like knowing you are in a conservatorship and understanding what that actually means is two different things. He could have been mislead into believing that a conservetorship is another term for adult adoption. They may have used the correct terminology but still dishonest and manipulative in their dealings with him. I think its also important to note how complimentary the adoption narrative was too them, and that they never corrected the record to the public. Im holding out for more information but because of the power, wealth, and connections of the family I am inclined to be wary of them. This was a situation ripe for dishonesty, manipulation, and abuse.
agreed. This is what I believe. Even if the family didn't make a dime they seem to be really comfortable discrediting and dismissing his feelings. He thought he was entering a family and they're acting like mean girls with a burn book in the media airing out that they never intended to adopt him.
If they had explained things to him the way they are sharing everything to the media now he might very well have gone to a different school and made his own way. The movie about him centred on the mother a lot more than they did him which had to have boosted their credibility and status a lot more.
People forget - he thought conservatorship was an adult adoption. He right he was legally part of the family
Conservatorships grant no parental or familial rights.
@@conchobar I know that, you know that but at the time he did NOT know that
We don't forget.... it just doesn't matter. What does it have to do with anything? Either they cheated him out of money or they didn't. Why is everyone so hung up over this adoption/conservatorship thing?
The conservator was put in place because of the regulations for football players and families. It is that simple. This wasn’t an adoption, it was done for legal reasons.
We need to look at the NCAA investigation. Also, I'm jealous of the sweater weather. It's far from sweater weather in southern Arizona. I think we have until mid-October-November.
Is there any such thing as a "conservatorship database"? It seems these cases get over looked. It would be nice to have a database for people to look up conservators, convervatees, dates, etc.
No, there isn't. They can be done at any number of courts in every state.
The fact that they never did anything to control his life and the fact that the movie was clearly filmed while he was under the BS NCAA rules about athletes not being allowed to earn money does make me more inclined towards the Thouy's story as presented here vs Michael's original story. It does sound like he's overstating the harm done to him and I'm wondering what happened that made him make such a big deal of this (not the conservatorship part, the conservatorship should never have been granted, I mean why make sure everyone knew about it? It's not like someone just chanced upon this news story.) I wonder if he really thinks that they made millions off of the movie and held out on him? Or does he have some new film deal and want to get out of the original contract? Either way, the Thouy's absolutely didn't do their due diligence, so they certainly aren't blameless even if their version of events is the honest truth. They should have ended the conservatorship as soon as it wasn't needed anymore AND they should have made sure that Michael had lawyers to help him with each legal event in this messy, messy story.
I will say that them calling him "son" without adopting him doesn't bother me if they're just doing it in private with everyone knowing it's just an endearment, not a legal relationship, but didn't they have language to that effect on their website? That's a horse of a different color. I'd expect "honorary son" not "adopted son" if that was the case.
I am speculating here...
1. He is retired from the NFL and all of a sudden, his large pay checks he was receiving from the NFL has ended and he doesn't want to end the lifestyle he became accustomed too.
2. Mysteriously he filed this lawsuit almost exactly the same time he published his new book... what great advertisement to promote the book!!!!
The named conservators have a fiduciary duty to the court and the conservatee. The conservatee doesn't have any duty at all (because he's supposedly in the position of needing help). The Tuohys say Michael Oher didn't choose to end his conservatorship, so it was on him. The Tuohys have consistently failed in their fiduciary duty for the last nineteen years (and the court has allowed this). What was the reason stated to the court for this conservatorship? We've seen enough of these documents lately to know that a professional is required to declare the conservatorship is needed due to mental or physical limitations. What were the limitations/deficiencies? Other than being a poor, young, vulnerable black kid (who just so happened to have considerable physical capabilities)? The Tuohys reason to put Michael Oher into a conservatorship was clearly to bypass rules so he could play for the University of Mississippi (the Tuohys Almer Mater). What were Michael Oher's limitations/deficiencies that allowed the Judge to agree to this conservatorship? Does anyone believe the Tuohys didn't pressurise/encourage Oher to attend the University of Mississippi? They were helping him out, did they lean on him to reciprocate by attending (and therefore playing football for) their preferred University?
I agree with you totally!
The Making It Happen foundation states “That philosophy is what propelled the Tuohy family to bring Michael into their home, give him love and support, and eventually adopt him as their son.”
Conspicuously missing: the word *legally*. We all know that Michael Ohers legal team have been scouring videos, web pages, book text, etc. for MONTHS to find an example of the Tuohys saying they "legally" adopted him. Since no example was listed in their legal filing.... they obviously couldn't find one.
@@aldoabruzzi6417lol not true AGAIN. You really have ZERO clue what you’re saying. Leigh Ann in her book very specifically said when we went thru the adoption process… you understand in your small brain that it’s no different than saying “I’m a doctor” but you’re actually a nurse. Universally in terms using “adopted” implies legal. They have stated in many interviews about adopting Michael and going thru the process to do so. So many interviews from 2009 press junket and also press on their book release. You’re simply making up false stories with ZERO investigation.
YES, it was solely for the purpose of playing at Ole Miss. Yes, iin both of Oher's books, he say it was his choice to go to Ole Miss. This conservatorship was in Dec 2004. He signed his commitment to Ole Miss Feb 2, 2005. Time was of the essence and the conservatorship was the fasted way and the NCAA accepted it.
The NCAA rules are different now, but at the time, he would have been unable to play immediately at Ole Miss because of the financialsupport they'd given him while he was in hs.
NCAA requires a guardian during high school to play. I was lucky enough to play in NCAA college football. A high school teammate had No parents in the picture and stayed with friends. He was forced to play Jr. College football due to NCAA rules. This was in the late 90’s and I can’t recall the exact reasons. I do know that out of 14 teammates that received NCAA scholarship offers 5 were forced to play to NAIA or JUCO to gain eligibility not due to academics. NCAA rules are often arbitrary and not enforced evenly across all players. Any investigation done by the NCAA during this time is often seen as corrupt. Their reputation during this period is not good.
Agreed. NCAA has a ton of rules about eligibility among other things which put people in a wrangle a lot of times, especially at the time. He supposedly was being recruited by many schools. The family may have seen this conservatorship as a way to have solved a bunch of issues for him while also shielding the family and solving the NCAA issue sooner rather than later making him a more attractive recruit. A recruit with a lot of eligibility issues may not get a good scholarship offer which they felt was not in his interests. Yes, being involved at Ole Miss could've been a recruitment thing for the family. Or it could be that he liked the coach and wanted some sort of support (which he hadn't had) while in ANOTHER new place and chose Ole Miss since the family was involved and he was exposed to Ole Miss. AND, the family might have thought it was in the best interests of him in whatever school he wanted to attend and getting this conservatorship solved that eligibility problem for him.
Timmy this is basically boils down to they wanted to provide for him while he was in college and couldn't do so because of NCAA rules. The way to get around that was having a conservatorship so that they could take care of him like they done for the year-and-a-half before he graduated high school. They were millionaires when they met him, I don't believe they profited off him in the way that he is betraying it and if they did I hope he gets the cut of the money that he deserves. However, this family took care of him when no one else would and he would not have the life he has if it was not for them. To me this is just a sad situation and it's insane that this coincides with his second book coming out. It's too much coincidence
Nice! I finally remembered to watch from the beginning instead of starting halfway through.
Please cover this story, including the NCAA!
Emily- my husband thinks of the Roman Empire due his religious beliefs. We are Catholic and he thinks about the beginning of the church during this time period. I just had to ask him. Not a prank here.
Excellent video. Regarding Michael Oher's 2011 memoir, Michael admits he was in a conservatorship, but he also stated that the conservatorship was a way to make him legally part of the Tuohy family. There's a reason why there was no quote from the book in the filing, as Michael's comments in the book show he didn't understand that a conservatorship grants no familial or parental rights.
I know this comment is a little after the fact but I have to say to your questioning of whether Oher should have profited more for the movie, that I am fine with it all being split evenly. Oher wouldn't have had a story without the Touhys. And them telling the story from the view of giving back in your community and helping kids in situations like Oher is actually more their story. You will never convince me that Oher was unaware of the movie deal or the book deal. In all the time since it came out, he has never said he didn't have any say in it. He's only said he didn't like that they depicted him as dumb and as not being good at football until the Touhys came along.
What can you say? Loving *families* tend to split things evenly without squabbling about who did what and who was the most important.
Maybe he had no idea what a conservatorship was so what that meant for him it may have just been a word that he was told and he didn’t understand it 28:57
I thought the Lawyer explained it to him as per his book?
@@mclbanton his lawyer was their lawyer.
30:18 Michael was referred to on their social media as their “adopted son”. Many times. If you claim someone is your “adopted son” it implies the legal status of that person. That is VERY different from “conservatee”. On this, I am disgusted.
They might not have ever done anything wrong with the conservatorship. But even forming it is disgusting. And the fact nothing was ever done about it/with it is still DEEPLY sus to me.
How many of THOSE type of Conservatorships exist? With no accountability? Who operates this system? How do we continue to live in a world of apathy and willful ignorance...? There are people being harmed by this system...this ***finger swirl to the courts*** appears to be corrupt. The victims deserve better.
I seriously doubt you'll find many like this.... where it's a conservatorship in name only... created for the sole purpose of satisfying the NCAA and never used for anything after that. Even Judge Gomes said she had never seen one like this before in her career.
There was word around town that they had an agenda with Michael. She worked on a friends house. She was very sketch with her business dealings, like dropping of non requested items and charging for them even when she was told the item wasn’t wanted she just never picked it up and kept billing for it. She also out of the blue replaced a coffee table that was purchased with another one without notice. The new one was ugly and didn’t match. Oh and her bills were not itemized, just an amount due, who does that? I knew she’d ordered it for someone else and they didn’t like it so she took hers (that she purchased through her) and left the new non matching one.
Memphis is a “good ole boy” area I’m sure what they did was on the down low".
Did she think he wouldn’t notice she swapped it out?…. I’d have complained to get the other one back.
@@Texas_Painter she figured she’d just say the new one looked better - which it didn’t
This has the feel of "I have a cousin who has a friend whose uncle heard this," so it must be true 😂😂😂
@@AP-kp8zs 🤣
I’m an accountant. Every time I hear about a conservatorship and hear there has been no or minimal accounting, I am appalled. If you are a conservator, wouldn’t you want to cover your own butt?
There are legitimate reasons for a conservatorship. A conservatorship should always be carefully monitored.
I see your point, but this isn't a Conservatorship of Estate.... its a Conservatorship of Person. They have no authority over his assets. They just need to 'account' for every medical and life/contract decision they've made for him, and apparently they haven't made any since he left college. He's been running his own life.
Yes, Emily, please cover this story...it still fascinates me on how squirrely life can get and how people take advantage of others...
Or how no good deeds goes unpunished!
@@covertpuppytwo3857 Time and a court hearing will tell...
@@covertpuppytwo3857 The “ Adoption Process” that the family claims to know so well?
Or him having no legal control over his own image due to their unlimited generosity and purely Magnanimous intentions?
The whole part about them paying the taxes on his share wasn't a "dig". If the NCAA was watching them like a hawk and Michael Oher was forbidden by NCAA NIL rules from accepting ANY payment from the book and movie... again it all makes perfect sense. Sean Tuohy has CAA write one check to him, he pays *all the taxes* on it, then slides Michael his share. Michael then has *no income on his IRS tax filing* for the NCAA to find. Once again, Sean is not hiding money *from* Michael Oher... he's hiding money from the NCAA to GIVE TO Michael Oher.
That's a very fair point. They may have been clarifying that they were trying to avoid further NCAA scrutiny or issues for Oher.
@@TheEmilyDBaker Yeah, the fact that the NCAA forbid him from accepting payment for the book or movie connected a lot of dots for me. Like do you convince him to give his rights away to Fox... figuring that the fame he receives from the movie will lead to book deals, speaking engagements, etc. later? Or do you ask them to shelve the project for 2 years until Michael has graduated and can be paid.... knowing they may walk away and never make the movie.
When you look at what the Alcon execs said about how little they would pay for the rights to a relatively unknown college *lineman* ... it suddenly makes sense why his rights were given away for free.
@@TheEmilyDBaker Quick lawyer question. When this first went down CNN's Jake Tapper had an estate and probate lawyer (Lisa MacCarley) on his show
ua-cam.com/video/reUldDoMw24/v-deo.html
She says:
_"According to the file, once the Ohers(Tuohys) got the court order, they never pursued letters of guardianship or conservatorship.... they never took the oath.... which means they never actually had legal authority to act on Mr. Oher's behalf, and that would be consistent with his own statement that just 3 years later he was presented with a contract to sign. So they received an order, but didn't act on it."_
So do I understand this correctly? They file for this conservatorship in August... it gets approved in December. But they never come in to take the conservator's oath, and they never requested letters of conservatorship from the court. So without those letters, what did they send to the insurance companies and show the NCAA? Just a copy of the "order"? Is that the judge's approval of the conservatorship?
And if they had them... they would have just walked into that NIL rights meeting with their letters of conservatorship and signed FOR him. His signature wouldn't be on that contract at all? Is that really the way it would have worked?
From Vermont, EDB keeping me company while starting to Can about 15/20 lbs of tomatoes from our community garden, plus jalapeño jelly.
Wow nice! Happy canning!