The producers of The Blind Side are finally speaking out.

The film has been cast under a dark shadow ever since Michael Oher filed a lawsuit against the people we thought were his adoptive parents, Sean and Leigh Anne Toughy. According to him, they never actually adopted him but allegedly tricked him into a conservatorship.

The athlete argues they then used their story and his name and likeness to make millions, all while having control over his finances. The family has clapped back at the allegations.

Coming to the Tuohy family’s defense, the Alcon Entertainment co-founders and co-CEOs Broderick Johnson and Andrew Kosove — the production company that financially backed the sports drama — told People on Thursday afternoon that there were “many mischaracterizations and uninformed opinions” swirling in the last 10 days.

To shut down some of the controversy, they insisted the Tuohy family was collectively paid approximately $767,000, which was delivered through their talent agency. The deal “was consistent with the marketplace at that time for the rights of relatively unknown individuals,” they noted:

“Therefore, it did not include significant payouts in the event of the film’s success. As a result, the notion that the Tuohys were paid millions of dollars by Alcon to the detriment of Michael Oher is false.”

According to the company, Twentieth Century Fox negotiated film rights to Michael Lewis’ 2006 book about Oher and other associated rights contracts for the film. Alcon then inherited said rights when the film was greenlit. Altogether, the movie has made over $330 million — but it doesn’t sound like the Tuohys have gotten much of that at all.

But it may not have been the specific film profits that padded their pockets – but the visibility it gave the parents. You see, per the New York Times, Leigh Anne has been charging $30,000 – $50,000 to appear as a motivational speaker, as far as the outlet can tell based on online estimates. Their Making It Happen foundation has also raised more than $1 million, but has only spent less than 20% of its total received donations on charitable efforts, the Times declared after a review of records dating back to 2010. So, there is a lot of money out there to be taken!

And Michael does have reason to be suspicious! In a new motion filed this week, he claimed the Tuohys never filed an accounting of his finances with the Shelby County clerk, which is mandated by Tennessee law. They should have filed one every year since 2004. Damn!

People spoke with multiple conservatorship attorneys in the state to get their take on the situation and many wondered whether Shelby County just didn’t check in with the Tuohys as Michael’s conservators. That seems problematic!

As for Alcon Entertainment, they responded to one allegation in Oher’s petition, which claimed that “Sean Tuohy amended the agreement for Oher’s life story in 2010 without his knowledge, after which the foundation received $200,000 from Alcon Entertainment.” Alcon simply said they “offered to donate an equal amount to a charity of Mr. Oher’s choosing, which he declined.” They neglected to comment on why they were giving that donation.

All the legal drama aside, the producers are standing behind the story they told and arguing it wasn’t a lie:

“In the story of The Blind Side we saw the better angels of human nature. We saw it in the Tuohy’s wonderful acts of kindness toward Michael Oher. However, more importantly, we saw it in the extraordinary courage that Michael Oher demonstrated in accepting the Tuohys’ generosity not as a handout, or as his saviors, but as a way through which he could improve his own life.”

They added that “Michael’s academic accomplishments and athletic achievements demonstrate this,” continuing:

“His raising of his own children now, who shall know a life of possibility the likes of which Michael never knew as a child, is the ultimate testament to Michael’s own strength and courage. In both of those regards, The Blind Side is verifiably authentic and will never be a lie or fake, regardless of the familial ups and downs that have occurred subsequent to the film.”

But, uh… they didn’t adopt him?! That part isn’t true!

To be honest, it seems like they don’t want their reputation (and future income from the movie) to be tanked because of this. What do you think of their statement? Sound OFF (below)!

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