Byron Allen donates $100,000 to family of Nolan Wells as billionaire Tyler Perry covers funeral

Byron Allen has donated $100,000 to a fundraiser for the family of Nolan Xavier Wells, the 18-year-old football player found dead in Mississippi after a Fourth of July boat trip, joining a group of prominent Black figures who have stepped in to support the family and press for answers.

The media executive made the donation on Saturday. It was announced by theGrio, the Black news outlet Allen owns through Allen Media Group, and pushed the campaign past $574,000 against a goal of $750,000. Comedian Lil Rel Howery and Auburn quarterback Deuce Knight are among the other donors.

Allen's contribution followed a news conference in which civil rights attorney Ben Crump and the Rev. Al Sharpton appeared alongside Wells' parents. Crump said Colin Kaepernick would pay for an independent autopsy and that Tyler Perry would cover the funeral costs. Sharpton will officiate the service.

The teenager traveled by boat to Horn Island with a group of friends on July 4, according to an account posted by Crump. He was last seen on the island around 3 p.m. and did not return with the group. His mother, Christine Wonsley, reported him missing that night, and local, state and federal agencies including the U.S. Coast Guard, the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources and the National Park Service joined a two-day search.

A park ranger found a body at the northwestern tip of the island on the morning of July 6, and the family confirmed his death later that day. An autopsy was scheduled for July 7. Jackson County Sheriff John Ledbetter has said the investigation remains active. A cause of death has not been determined.

Wells played football at Southwest Mississippi Community College in Summit and hoped to transfer to a Division I program. He would have turned 19 next month. His mother has urged supporters to keep the response peaceful, saying her son disliked fights and would not have wanted anything else.

The money arriving from Allen, Perry and Kaepernick reflects a pattern that has taken shape over the past decade, in which Black entertainers and business figures absorb the costs that fall on families thrust suddenly into public cases. Funeral bills, independent autopsies and legal representation are expensive, and families rarely have the means to cover them while an investigation is still unfolding.

Allen has built the platform that makes such gestures visible. He founded what became Allen Media Group in 1993 after a career that began in stand-up comedy, including an appearance on "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson" at 18 that made him the youngest comedian to perform on the program. The company now owns roughly a dozen television networks and produces more than 70 shows.

Its holdings have grown quickly. Allen bought The Weather Channel in 2018 and acquired theGrio, giving him a news outlet aimed squarely at Black audiences. In May, his controlling company agreed to buy a majority stake in BuzzFeed for $120 million, a deal that also hands him control of HuffPost and installs him as chairman and chief executive upon closing. He has said he wants to build a premier free streaming video service out of the pieces.

He has also pushed into territory that few independent operators reach. Allen made a $14.3 billion offer for Paramount and CBS in 2024. His syndicated show "Comics Unleashed" now airs in the 11:35 p.m. slot on CBS previously held by "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert," under an arrangement in which Allen buys the airtime and sells the advertising himself.

Litigation has been part of the strategy. Allen sued Comcast for $20 billion alleging racial discrimination in carriage decisions, a case that reached the Supreme Court before settling in 2021, and brought similar claims against AT&T and Charter Communications. He filed a $10 billion suit against McDonald's over its advertising practices, alleging the company steered spending away from Black-owned media, and settled it out of court in June 2025.

His donation lands as the Wells case draws national attention and as the family waits on findings from an autopsy that will determine what, if anything, comes next. Sharpton and Crump have both signaled they intend to keep pressure on investigators.

Wonsley put it plainly at the news conference: she wants to know what happened, and why her son did not come home.