Jason Whitlock has chosen his side in the Michael Oher-Tuohy family drama.
Whitlock, the controversial BlazeTV host, ripped Oher for claiming in a petition that the Tuohy family did not adopt him and tricked him into signing away his name for potential business deals.
Oher filed a lawsuit against the Tuohy family this week and asserted he was fooled into signing documents for a conservatorship.
“What he’s doing to the Tuohy family is despicable,” Whitlock said Tuesday on “Fearless with Jason Whitlock.”
“He’s telling an obvious lie he knows most of the media will be too afraid to question because he’s black. Plus, the media is lazy. It’s easier to repeat Oher’s allegations than to question and/or research the legitimacy of them.
“It’s also easier to just feel sorry for Michael Oher,” Whitlock continued.
Whitlock said he came to this conclusion after re-reading Oher’s book, “I Beat the Odds,” and then re-watching “The Blind Side,” the movie based on Oher’s life.
The opinionated host seemed to have the most umbrage with Oher’s claims in a 14-page legal petition that he only discovered in February he had not been adopted but instead signed documents for a conservatorship, which gave control over his finances to the Tuohy family.
The Tuohy family has denied the claims, especially that they profited to great levels from the movie starring Sandra Bullock.
A lawyer for the family related a statement to TMZ accusing Oher of a $15-million shakedown, calling Oher’s claims “outlandish,” “hurtful” and “absurd.”
“Why on Earth is Michael Oher pretending he only recently discovered the Tuohy family didn’t adopt him?” Whitlock said. “Why are members of the media going along with Oher’s effort to shakedown the Tuohy family for cash under the pretense that they lied to, and exploited him, for profit?”
Oher has expressed his dissatisfaction with “The Blind Side,” but that didn’t stop Whitlock from ripping the former NFL offensive lineman for his claims, stating he lacks “self-awareness, humility and, quite possibly, intelligence.”
“Michael Oher is so arrogant and delusional that he believes his natural intellect would have developed regardless of circumstances. It’s a naïve worldview. He’s still naïve. He believes this desperate attempt to shake down the family that welcomed him into their home is a good look, and is going to lead to a financial windfall. It’s not. As lazy as the media is, as lazy as reporters and pundits are, they’re going to have to deal with the truth,” Whitlock said.
“The Tuohys were wealthy when they took legal guardianship of Oher. They sold their family business for $200 million. They had no financial motive to exploit Oher.”
What we know about Michael Oher’s lawsuit against the Tuohy family
Former NFL player Michael Oher, the subject of the hit movie “The Blind Side,” claims Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy never officially adopted him.
According to court papers, the Tuohys tricked Oher into signing over the legal authority to use his name in business deals after he turned 18.
The 37-year-old alleged the Tuohys used their conservatorship to make millions in royalties from the 2009 Oscar-nominated film.
“The lie of Michael’s adoption is one upon which Co-Conservators Leigh Anne Tuohy and Sean Tuohy have enriched themselves at the expense of their Ward [Oher],” the legal filing said.
Sean Tuohy spoke out against the claims, saying the conservatorship was made to ensure that Oher was eligible to play football at the University of Mississippi.
Oher wants to end the Tuohys’ conservatorship and secure an injunction barring them from using his name and likeness.
He also wants an accounting of the money they’ve already earned off his name, a fair share of the profits, and punitive damages.
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Whitlock, while tearing into Oher, seemingly took everything said by the Tuohy family at face value.
“They’re putting out this whole exploitive conservatorship nonsense, like it’s Britney Spears’ parents controlling all of her money. Michael, reporters, the world: The Tuohys have, and always have had, more money than Michael Oher,” Whitlock said. “They also have more class, decency and compassion than Oher.
“Their side makes perfect sense. Here’s the deal that everybody’s gonna have to come to grips with: Michael Oher is every bit as emotionally broken as the first day as an overgrown teenager that he slept on the Tuohys’ couch.”
Perhaps Whitlock’s views on the situation could be summed up by this one question he asked.
Said Whitlock: “Where would you be without the Tuohys?”
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