The inspiring message of hope and unity highlighted in the 2009 film “The Blind Side” has been threatened in recent days, as the individuals who inspired the film, former NFL player Michael Oher and the Tuohy family of Tennessee are involved in a nasty feud.
There have been a slew of accusations that Quinton Aaron, who portrayed Oher in the movie, did not see coming.
“This type of thing is just this very unexpected, shocking and just heartbreaking, you know? And I pray that somehow, some way, they could meet some kind of resolve that they can be made whole from. And it doesn’t, you know, I don’t want to say terminate their relationship. Although, you know, with the blows that have been thrown I don’t – I don’t really know what’s to come,” Aaron told Fox News Digital.
The actor who portrayed Michael Oher in “The Blind Side,” Quinton Aaron, says he was shocked to learn about the real-life conflict between Oher and the Tuohy family. (Leigh Anne Tuohy Instagram/Ralph Nelson/©Warner Bros./Courtesy Everett Collection)
WATCH: QUINTON AARON TALKS ‘BLOWS’ TUOHY FAMILY AND MICHAEL OHER HAVE ‘THROWN’
Oher has accused the Tuohy family of never actually adopting him and forcing him into a conservatorship for their own monetary benefit. He said he only learned of this in February 2023. In a statement obtained by Fox News Digital, the Tuohy family attorney, Marty Singer, denied the allegations leveled against the Tuohy family in Oher’s petition to end their conservatorship, calling them “hurtful and absurd.”
The statement also claimed Oher threatened to “plant” a negative story in the press about the Tennessee family unless they paid him $15 million.
“I know over the years there were articles that came out where both Michael and the Tuohys stated that some of the things in the movie weren’t how it was in real life,” Aaron told Fox News Digital. “That tends to happen sometimes with films, you know, writers take… creative liberties and tell a different narrative to a certain story because of the audience that they’re prepping it for.”
Quinton Aaron portrayed Michael Oher in “The Blind Side,” while Sandra Bullock and Tim McGraw played Leigh Anne and Sean Tuohy, respectively. (Jim Spellman/WireImage/Getty Images)
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“I think what’s going on between the Tuohys and Michael, it’s personal, and it shouldn’t affect the film. Because we knew all along when they put out the articles or when we read the book, that certain things weren’t the same in the movie,” Aaron explained.
He also said the cast didn’t know any of the latest drama when filming “The Blind Side,” adding “that’s just come to light, and I think that’s what makes it so shocking. But I don’t think it should harm the film.”
WATCH: ‘BLIND SIDE’ ACTOR QUINTON AARON TALKS ‘CREATIVE LIBERTIES’ TAKEN IN THE MOVIE
Aaron says while shooting the award-winning film, which also stars Sandra Bullock and Tim McGraw, he never actually met Oher, as he was away at the NFL Combine, but got to know the athlete several years later at an autograph signing. From Aaron’s understanding, he didn’t sense anything was awry, particularly as Oher’s career developed.
Michael Oher was drafted by the Baltimore Ravens in 2009 and was joined on stage by the Tuohys. (Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images)
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“You know, they were at all his NFL games. You know, he won the Super Bowl. They were down there on the field with him and everything…. They [were] at the draft, when he got drafted, the family was there, they came on stage with him… I think you got the sense that they were in real life, how they were portrayed in the film… And that’s what made it so special for all of us.”
Aaron also shared that he hopes Oher and the Tuohys can mend fences in the near future – out of the public eye.
“My hope is that they could, kind of just handle it behind closed doors among each other… Instead of injecting it out into the world, causing a whole bunch of people to spew their hate into that situation, making it bigger, you know? I really feel like they can come to some sort of peaceful resolve,” he said.
“Communication is the key. And I really feel like… somewhere along the way there may have been a miscommunication, and I don’t think it’s going to get resolved in the public eye,” Aaron explained.
Leigh Anne Tuohy was on the field after Michael Oher won the Super Bowl with the Baltimore Ravens in 2013. (Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
WATCH: ‘BLIND SIDE’ ACTOR QUINTON AARON HAD HOPE THE MOVIE WAS LIKE REAL-LIFE
He said there was always “hope that they were in real life, how they were portrayed on the film, because this film was one that generationally promoted good and has changed so many people’s lives in so many different positive ways, over the years.”
Quinton Aaron says he has spoken to many children and adults who have been directly impacted by “The Blind Side.” (Amanda Edwards/Getty Images)
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Aaron also told Fox News digital that his life changed because of “The Blind Side.”
“I’ve become a motivational speaker because of it, and I’ve traveled the country and spoken to so many kids and adults and heard so many stories of people whose lives were changed by that movie in particular. You know, I met athletes who are now playing in the league who said that they were adopted by a family that took them in because of that movie.”
