Tyler Perry, Meek Mill, Kyrie Irving back 93-year-old S.C. woman fighting to keep home

The 93-year-old Hilton Head woman who is entangled in a legal battle against developers to keep her home now has some star power backing her.

Billionaire screenwriter and film producer Tyler Perry, known for his character Madea; NBA star Kyrie Irving and rapper Meek Mill have expressed their support for Josephine Wright in ongoing fight, The Island Packet reported.

Perry shared a segment on the Wright family’s struggle on social media, asking how he could assist her.

Mill, a Philadelphia native, also commented on Perry’s post, denouncing the developers’ actions as “corporate bullying at its finest.”

Irving further bolstered Wright’s cause by donating $40,000 to her family’s GoFundMe page to cover their legal defense expenses. The effort so far has raised more than $100,000.

Several months ago, developer Bailey Point Investment sued Wright and her family over three alleged encroachments her 1.8-acre property has on Bailey’s 29-acre housing development.

The company, which built the 147-unit Bailey’s Cove adjacent to Wright’s property, says the encroachments are a shed and a satellite dish, both of which have been moved, as well as the home’s back porch.

Wright believes the lawsuit, which has cost the family thousands of dollars, is a pretext to get the family to sell her property, which she has lived on for three decades, to the developer.

Indeed, the developers in the suit have raised questions about Wright’s ownership of the land, an issue that hadn’t been raised before construction began. 

The family’s attorney, Roberts Vaux, says that large companies often employ legal action to pressure small landowners into selling their properties on Hilton Head Island.

Bailey Point, for its part, denies Wright’s claims of harassment and intimidation; the lawsuit is ongoing.

— Ted Glanzer