Social media users have asked that Sandra Bullock return her Oscar for the movie The Blind Side due to the recent controversies unearthed about Michael Oher’s true story. Michael’s mother, Leigh Ann Tuohy, who Sandra played in the movie, allegedly exploited Michael under the guise of adoption, hence the outrage.
Quinton Aaron, who played Michael, has spoken up to defend Sandra, stating that she had nothing to do with the actual occurrence.
Quinton speaks up for Sandra
Quinton said in an interview that Sandra should not feel guilty about winning an award fourteen years ago for the movie and that fans should redirect their anger from her as she is going through so much already. “There’s nothing that says she had anything to do with this. She was an actress who got hired to do a job, and she did it so well that she was rewarded for it,” he told Fox News. “Why would you take that reward just because of what’s going on today, 14 years later?”
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Sandra’s longtime partner, Bryan Randall, recently died from a neurological disease, so she has to grieve amidst these threats to her career. “I wish they would just leave her alone because, you know, she’s going through her own things right now,” Quinton added.
The Tuohys are ‘devastated’ at Michael’s claims
The Tuohys took Michael in as a high schooler in Memphis, Tennessee. He then went to Ole Miss and joined the NFL as he was an excellent football player. The 37-year-old now alleges that Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy did not adopt him but made him agree to conservatorship as a teenager, giving them legal rights over his finances and business deals.
Sean claims they are “devastated” by the suit and never profited off Michael’s name. He said that the conservatorship was the only legal way for Michael to be part of the family in order to attend Ole Miss. “We contacted lawyers who had told us that we couldn’t adopt over the age of 18,” he explained. “The only thing we could do was to have a conservatorship. We were so concerned it was on the up-and-up that we made sure the biological mother came to court.”
There have been claims from the Tuohy’s side that Michael also tried to blackmail them for $15 million before now. “Over the years, the Tuohys have given Mr. Oher an equal cut of every penny received from ‘The Blind Side,’” their attorney told TMZ Sports. Amidst all of this, Sandra has been caught up in the commotion for playing Leigh Ann, albeit some fans agree with Quinton in her defense.