Michael Oher is speaking about the biopic made about his life — The Blind Side. He said the film ended up harming him and his career as a result.
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Speaking with The New York Times Magazine, Oher said that the film and movie ended up having a negative impact on his NFL prospects. He said that teams looked down on him and his intelligence. "The N.F.L. people were wondering if I could read a playbook," Oher said in the interview.
Oher didn't know what to think of the movie at first. However, he quickly realized a negative perception was forming about him after the movie. Viewers saw him as dumb. "It's hard to describe my reaction," Oher told The Times. "It seemed kind of funny to me, to tell you the truth, like it was a comedy about someone else. It didn't register. But social media was just starting to grow, and I started seeing stuff that I'm dumb. I'm stupid. Every article about me mentioned 'The Blind Side,' like it was part of my name."
He added, "If my kids can't do something in class, will their teacher think, Their dad is dumb — is that why they're not getting it?"
Michael Oher Files Lawsuit
Oher also sued Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy, the family that raised him as a teen. They had him under a conservatorship, which the judge ended in September. Oher sued the family claiming they took him for millions. He also aid the family emotionally manipulated him into making him let his guard down.
"The first time I heard 'I love you,' it was Sean and Leigh Anne saying it," he said. "When that happens at 18, you become vulnerable. You let your guard down and then you get everything stripped from you. It turns into a hurt feeling."
Entertainment lawyer Martin Singer, a spokesperson for the Tuohys, says that Oher's claims are nothing but false.
"Anyone with a modicum of common sense can see that the outlandish claims made by Michael Oher about the Tuohy family are hurtful and absurd," it said. "The idea that the Tuohys have ever sought to profit off Mr. Oher is not only offensive, it is transparently ridiculous."
