"Oscar was well deserved": Fans defend Sandra Bullock as actress gets dragged in wake of Michael Oher's The Blind Side controversy 

In 2009, Sandra Bullock won the Oscar for Best Actress for her portrayal of Leigh Anne Tuohy in the biographical drama The Blind Side. The movie was based on a 2006 book of the same name written by Michael Lewis.

It revolved around Michael Oher’s life story, an American football offensive lineman who struggled against the odds, overcame poverty, and went on to play for the NFL (National Football League) with support from his adoptive parents Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy.

While Sandra Bullock played the character of Leigh, Tim McGraw portrayed the role of Sean, and the lead role of Oher was played by Quinton Aaron. The inspirational sports drama was written and directed by John Lee Hancock.

Now, more than 14 years later, the real-life Michael Oher has filed a petition in Tennessee Probate Court stating that the movie The Blind Side, which claimed to be based on his life, did not carry the right facts.

In the wake of this controversy, Sandra Bullock’s name was dragged down on social media, with many demanding that her Academy Award be revoked. However, fans of the actress came to her defense and said it was not her fault that a movie in which she acted may have had false facts.

One X (formerly Twitter) user even commented under @notcapnamerica's post:

A netizen defends Sandra Bullock. (Image via X/Offically Neurodivergent)

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“Can we leave Sandra Bullock alone for a second?”: The Blind Side actress earns support from fans amidst Michael Oher controversy

Michael Oher, the famous NFL lineman on whose life story Sandra Bullock’s Oscar-winning film The Blind Side was based recently filed a petition in a Tennessee-based court and alleged that the crux of his “rags-to-riches” story that was portrayed on screen was not entirely true.

In fact, he also mentioned that his success story had nothing to do with being adopted by the Tuohy family, nor did they have anything to do with him choosing to play football when he was at the University of Mississippi or his selection by the NFL. Oher said recently to ESPN that such facts were all untrue.

Not only that but Michael Oher has claimed that his story was quite the opposite that what was shown on screen and his adoptive parents “tricked” him into signing conservatorship papers right after he turned 18 that allowed them to make deals in his name, as per the news outlet Deadline.

In fact, the source cites that Oher did not discover this information about his alleged exploitation until February this year, as per his petition.

The matter does not end here either. As per Deadline, Michael Oher’s petition filed in Shelby County, Tennessee Probate Court revealed how the conservatorship was used by the Tuohys to make themselves rich, while leaving him out of all profits, be it from Michael Lewis’ 2006 book or its subsequent film adaptation The Blind Side in 2009.

He was also never legally adopted by the Tuohy family as that would have given him control of his own finances, as reported by The New York Post.

The petition also mentioned that Mr. and Mrs. Tuohy and their two biological kids earned $225,000 each in addition to 2.5% of the defined net profits from Warner Bros, the company which produced the movie.

In contrast, Oher himself received nothing. The film earned over $305 million at the box office in 2009. As per ESPN, the family earlier claimed that the flat fee they received was shared equally among all of them, including Oher.

Now, over a decade and a half later when Oher has claimed that the facts of the film were untrue and he was a victim of alleged financial exploitation, Sandra Bullock’s name is being dragged through the mud as she was part of the project.

In fact, as soon as the news of Michael Oher’s latest 14-page petition surfaced on social media, many netizens demanded to revoke her Oscar.

In contrast, others have opposed, saying her Oscar was well-deserved and she had nothing to do with the Oher controversy. Here are some of the comments in the actress’ defense.

So far, neither Sandra Bullock nor the Tuohy family has commented on the latest development. Oher, on the other hand, who has long been a critic of the movie, told The New York Post that it was a burden to his football career.

He also clarified how he filed the petition to end the Tuohy conservatorship and ban them from using his name and brand to earn future royalties.

On the personal front, Sandra Bullock has been in bereavement after her photographer partner Bryan Randall passed away on August 5 from ALS, a nervous system disease that weakens muscle and overall physical function over time.

Now aged 59, Sandra Bullock has been acting in Hollywood since 1987. She is well-known as the actress from popular films such as Ocean 8, Miss Congeniality, The Proposal, Hangmen, and Gravity among others. Apart from an Oscar, she also has a Golden Globe Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award for The Blind Side.

She was also the world’s highest-paid actress in 2010 and 2014 and was named one of Time’s 100 most influential people in the world in 2010. In 2015, she was also named “Most Beautiful Woman” by People magazine.