Current:Home > reviewsCharles Langston:Tyler Perry building new home for 93-year-old South Carolina woman fighting developers -Capitatum
Charles Langston:Tyler Perry building new home for 93-year-old South Carolina woman fighting developers
NovaQuant View
Date:2025-04-07 14:57:39
Hollywood heavyweight Tyler Perry has stepped in to help a 93-year-old South Carolina woman fighting developers over a home that's been in her family since the end of the Civil War.
Bailey Point Investment Group sued Hilton Head Island resident Josephine Wright over her home in February,Charles Langston arguing that her screened-in porch, a shed and a satellite dish were encroaching on the company's property, causing a nuisance, lowering property values and delaying their development plans.
Bailey Point Investment owns land on every side of Wright's 1.8-acre property after acquiring it in 2014, and is developing a 147-home subdivision in the area. The company tried to buy Wright's property a few years back, offering just $39,000, she told USA TODAY.
Wright countersued the company, enlisted the help of a civil rights attorney and the ensuing press coverage caught Perry's attention in June.
Now the "Madea" actor is building her a five-bedroom home, TMZ reported.
'Messing with the wrong lady':93-year-old South Carolina woman fights off developers
Josephine Wright's history on Hilton Head Island
Wright has been living at the home on Hilton Head for the past 30 years, after she and her husband retired from their jobs in New York City.
After her husband died in 1998, it has just been Wright there, although the home is a favorite gathering spot among her 16 children, 40 grandchildren, 54 great-grandchildren and 16 great-great-grandchildren.
“This has always been a sanctuary,” Wright told USA TODAY.
Up until last year, that is. That's when Wright said Bailey Point Investment began doing work around and even on her property, like cutting down trees and kicking up dust that covered her car and house. Around the same time, she said other strange things started happening, including flattened tires and a snake hanging in a window.
The situation escalated with the company's lawsuit and Wright's countersuit and gained national news coverage.
Perry posted a TV station's story that quoted Wright as saying, "I’ve pretty much been a fighter all my life.”
"Well, that makes two of us. Ms. Wright," Perry wrote. "Please tell where to show up and what you need to help you fight."
Tyler Perry 'has made a significant difference'
Wright's granddaughter, Charise Graves, started a GoFundMe in May to help her grandmother fight off the developers.
Soon after that, celebrities including recording artists Fantasia and Meek Mill posted their support. Dallas Mavericks star guard Kyrie Irving donated $40,000 to the GoFundMe, and Snoop Dogg contributed $10,000.
Graves recently updated the GoFundMe to report that a tree fell on Wright's home while she was out of the house in September, creating two holes in her roof.
Perry is now paying for a new house to replace Wright's current home, and construction crews are expected to break ground in the coming weeks, TMZ reported.
They may just start in time for Wright's 94th birthday next month.
Perry's representatives didn't immediately respond to a request from USA TODAY on Wednesday for more information about his donation.
Graves confirmed the news on GoFundMe, expressing her gratitude to Perry on Wednesday.
"Tyler Perry's friendship has made a significant difference in Grandma's life, and we are truly thankful for his kindness and generosity," she wrote, adding that Irving made a second donation to her grandmother's cause following the roof damage.
"Everyone's gesture of support and solidarity means the world to us but Kyrie has gone above and beyond anything that we could have imagined from one donor and we are forever grateful," she wrote. "Kyrie, your invite to the new home is in the mail!"
veryGood! (729)
Related
- Charges: D'Vontaye Mitchell died after being held down for about 9 minutes
- Maren Morris files for divorce from Ryan Hurd after 5 years of marriage
- DeSantis touts Florida's Israel evacuation that likely would've happened without his help
- Prosecutors seek to recharge Alec Baldwin in the Rust movie shooting
- Plunge Into These Olympic Artistic Swimmers’ Hair and Makeup Secrets
- DC Young Fly’s Sister Dies 4 Months After His Partner Jacky Oh
- Love Is Blind Villain Uche Answers All Your Burning Questions After Missing Reunion
- DOJ launches civil rights probe after reports of Trenton police using excessive force
- USA women's basketball live updates at Olympics: Start time vs Nigeria, how to watch
- DC Young Fly’s Sister Dies 4 Months After His Partner Jacky Oh
Ranking
- USA women's basketball live updates at Olympics: Start time vs Nigeria, how to watch
- Justice Amy Coney Barrett says it would be a good idea for Supreme Court to adopt ethics rules
- South Carolina teen elected first Black homecoming queen in school's 155 years of existence
- Staying in on Halloween? Here’s Everything You Need for a Spooky Night at Home
- Sam Taylor
- Tyga files for sole custody of his son with Blac Chyna, King Cairo
- Teen Mom's Kailyn Lowry Shows Off Her Placenta Smoothie After Welcoming Baby No. 5
- Russian President Putin and Chinese leader Xi meet in Beijing and call for close policy coordination
Recommendation
'No Good Deed': Who's the killer in the Netflix comedy? And will there be a Season 2?
Nikki Haley nabs fundraiser from GOP donor who previously supported DeSantis: Sources
Rolls-Royce is cutting up to 2,500 jobs in an overhaul of the U.K. jet engine maker
Detroit casino workers strike in latest labor strife in Michigan
Selena Gomez's "Weird Uncles" Steve Martin and Martin Short React to Her Engagement
Suspect in fatal shooting of 2 Swedes in Belgium shot dead by police, authorities say
At least 500 killed in strike on Gaza hospital: Gaza Health Ministry
North Carolina man arrested for threats against Jewish organization