Defending the Oscar-winning movie, Alcon Entertainment co-founders and co-CEOs speak out against 'many mischaracterizations and uninformed opinions' about the Oscar-winning film.
- Aug 25, 2023
AceShowbiz - "The Blind Side" producers are standing up for the movie amid the recent dispute surrounding the film. Defending the Oscar-winning movie, Alcon Entertainment co-founders and co-CEOs Broderick Johnson and Andrew Kosove spoke out against "many mischaracterizations and uninformed opinions" about the film.
In a lengthy statement sent to PEOPLE on Thursday afternoon, August 23, Broderick Johnson and Andrew Kosove revealed the actual profit made by Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy as well as Michael Oher. They clarified that the former NFL player and the four members of the Tuohy family were collectively paid approximately $767,000 in payments delivered through their talent agency for "The Blind Side".
The statement claimed that the deal for the Tuohys' and Michael Oher's life rights "was consistent with the marketplace at that time for the rights of relatively unknown individuals. Therefore, it did not include significant payouts in the event of the film's success." It continued, "As a result, the notion that the Tuohys were paid millions of dollars by Alcon to the detriment of Michael Oher is false."
Kosove and Johnson also added that the athlete and the family will probably receive future payments as well. "We anticipate that the Tuohy family and Michael Oher will receive additional profits as audiences continue to enjoy this true story in the years to come," they further explained. "In addition to these contractual payments, Alcon made a charitable contribution to the Tuohy family foundation. We offered to donate an equal amount to a charity of Mr. Oher's choosing, which he declined."
In the statement, Kosove and Johnson defended the movie, saying that Oher's lawsuit gave critics "a justification to unfairly pick apart the movie fourteen years later-some going so far as to call it 'fake' or a 'lie.' " They said, "We are as proud of the film today as we were when our amazing collaborators made the movie 14 years ago. We hope our fellow filmmakers all over the world will continue to look for uplifting stories to tell, and have the freedom and empowerment to have their voices heard."
The drama surrounding "The Blind Side" after Oher filed a lawsuit against the Tuohy family earlier this month. He claimed that the Tuohys never actually adopted him, but instead created a conservatorship that gave them legal authority to make business deals in his name.
The former athlete added he only learned of the conservatorship in February of this year. However, his 2011 memoir appears to show that he was aware of the conservatorship long before he took legal action.
