Sandra Bullock Faces Calls For Her Oscar To Be Revoked Over ‘The Blind Side’ Controversy As She Grieves Boyfriend’s Passing

Aug 17, 2023

Sandra Bullock is a talented actress known for her starring turn in films such as “While You Were Sleeping,” “Miss Congeniality,” “The Proposal” and “Ocean’s 8.” One of her most celebrated roles was as Leigh Anne Tuohy in the football drama “The Blind Side,” based on real-life events and for which she won an Academy Award for Best Actress in 2010. However, as controversy began to swirl around the Tuohy family in 2023, the star was pulled into the dispute, with the uproar leading some parties to call for Bullock’s Oscar to be revoked.

Released in 2009 and directed by John Lee Hancock, “The Blind Side” is a heartwarming sports drama that tells the inspiring true story of Michael Oher, a homeless and underprivileged African-American teenager who is taken in by the Tuohy family and eventually becomes a successful NFL player. Bullock took on the role of the Tuohy matriarch Leigh Anne, a strong-willed woman who plays a pivotal role in Oher’s life. Her performance resonated deeply with audiences and critics alike, leading to an Academy Award for Best Actress.

However, circumstances in real life were not as rosy. In August 2023, Oher filed a suit against Leigh Ann and her husband Sean Tuohy, claiming that they never legally adopted him. Instead, he claimed they held a conservatorship that allowed them to make business decisions using his name without his full understanding, as he was 18 years old at the time. He also alleged Leigh Ann and Sean, as well as their two children, received millions of dollars in residual checks over the years from “The Blind Side” while he received nothing. 

In response, the Tuohys made some incendiary claims against Oher as well, including that he attempted to extort $15 million from them.

A lawyer for Leigh Ann, Sean and their children told People that Oher, now 37, threatened to “plant a negative story about them in the press unless they paid him $15 million” and that the former NFL lineman “has actually attempted to run this play several times before.”

According to a petition filed by Oher to the courts, he was seeking an end to the conservatorship. He was also seeking an injunction to bar the Tuohys from using his name and likeness. Oher was also seeking a full accounting of the money the Tuohys earned using his name, and to have them pay him his fair share of profits, as well as unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.

As the back-and-forth continued between Oher and the Tuohys, Bullock, who has stayed mum on the issue, has been pulled into the fray. Certain parties have criticized her over her silence on the matter and some have even called for her Oscar to be forfeited.

“Sandra Bullock should give her Oscar back. She knows she didn’t deserve that s—,” sports broadcaster Brandon Walker posted on social media. 

“I demand we revoke Sandra Bullock’s Oscar and give it to Meryl Streep,” another user posted, referring to Streep’s nomination for “Julie & Julia” that same year. 

“So Sandra Bullock should have to give back her Oscar right, and man do we need to start checking these good feeling stories,” another post read.

Another user remarked that “if Reggie Bush had to give back his Heisman Sandra Bullock should have to give back her Oscar,” referring to the football running back’s trophy he won in 2005, which he forfeited after it surfaced that he had received almost $300,000 worth of gifts in violation of NCAA policies. 

Meanwhile, Bullock’s fans took aim at her detractors for stirring the pot at a difficult time in her personal life. Bullock’s longtime partner, Bryan Randall, passed away on Aug. 5, 2023, after secretly battling amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) for three years. After the release of her 2022 film “The Lost City,” Bullock announced she was taking a break from acting indefinitely.

“Work in front of the camera needs to take a pause… until I don’t feel like I feel now when I’m in front of a camera,” she told CBS Sunday Morning.

Since Randall’s passing, Bullock has not made any public appearances or comments. 

Bullock’s co-star Quinton Aaron, who portrayed Oher in “The Blind Side,” came to her defense, saying, “Sandra did nothing wrong.” He added:

“That’s my girl and she is going through a really tough time right now. I really feel like they should leave her alone and stop trying to come at her.”

He also said calls for her Oscar to be revoked were nonsensical as “she gave a brilliant performance. And that shouldn’t be tarnished for something that had nothing to do with her.”

Bullock’s fans also rallied behind her online, with one user posting, “Not y’all calling for Sandra Bullock’s Oscar to be revoked. It ain’t her fault the real life people were exploitative scammers and thieves.”

Another sympathetic user wrote:

“This! Sandra Bullock is an actress. How would she have known... back in 2009?? Her longtime partner died from ALS earlier this month. Give her a break.”

A third comment read, “Y’all really need to leave Sandra Bullock alone..she going through her own heartache/stuff right now,” while another user similarly said, “She just lost her longtime partner to ALS. They need to keep her out of it. She didn’t do the scamming.”

Do you think it’s fair to pull Sandra Bullock into the controversy surrounding the Tuohys? Should she have her Academy Award revoked? Let us know what you think, then pass this along to family and friends to get their take on it, too.