“The Blind Aspect” writer Michael Lewis is sharing his tackle the drama involving Michael Oher and the Tuohy household, alleging that the previous athlete’s accusations stem from the deterioration of his psychological state.
In line with HuffPost, Oher, who performed within the NFL from 2009 to 2016, has accused Sean and Leigh Ann Tuohy of duping him right into a conservatorship by telling him it was equal to adoption and would make him a member of their household. He additionally claimed they took benefit of him financially following the publication of the e book and movie based mostly on his life and the “adoption” narrative.
“What we’re watching is a change of habits,” Lewis stated, HuffPost reported. “That is what occurs to soccer gamers who get hit within the head: They run into issues with violence and aggression.”
The writer’s verbal assaults on Oher and his psychological state have been revealed in The Guardian on Tuesday, days after a court docket launched Oher from the Tuohys’ conservatorship.
Though the conservatorship has ended, the lawsuit is continuing.
A decide sometimes grants a conservatorship after figuring out that people can’t make their very own selections. Consequently, conservators could make authorized, monetary and different selections for the consumer.
The Tuohys declare Oher threatened to reveal the story to the press earlier than the lawsuit in a “shakedown” try.
“They’ve persistently handled him like a son and one in every of their three youngsters,” Marvin Singer, the Tuohys’ lawyer, beforehand stated, in response to HuffPost. “His response was to threaten them, together with saying that he would plant a damaging story about them within the press except they paid him $15 million.”
Whereas talking with The Guardian, Lewis acknowledged that Oher cooperated together with his lawyer to assemble a story as a result of the general public would “get behind him if he makes these accusations,” HuffPost reported.
Lewis’ 2006 e book, “The Blind Aspect,” turned a critically praised 2009 movie that earned lead actress Sandra Bullock a number of prizes, together with an Academy Award.
Nonetheless, some viewers see it as a “white savior” narrative that reveals the Tuohys as Oher’s rescuers with out addressing different social impediments, corresponding to systemic racism. Oher subsequently shared in his memoir that the movie unfairly represented him as “dumb.”
Lewis stated Oher “was not a robust voice on his life” and that he needed to “dig” the narrative out to create the e book. He additionally alleged that Oher was “not helpful” on the soccer subject till he met the Tuohys in 2003 whereas attending a non-public highschool.
Nonetheless, Oher ranked as one in every of Tennessee’s finest gamers earlier than transferring in with the household.
“What I really feel actually unhappy about is I watched the entire thing up shut,” Lewis beforehand informed The Washington Put up in protection of the Tuohys. “They showered him with assets and love. That he’s suspicious of them is breathtaking. The mind-set one needs to be in to do this — I really feel unhappy for him.”
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