A spokesperson for the philanthropist, 71, denied accusations that she kept the private road that runs through her estate in Maui closed as locals tried to escape following a Hawaii tsunami warning.
Oprah Winfrey became the center of a swirling online controversy after social media users accused her of blocking evacuees from using her private road in Maui during a tsunami scare triggered by a powerful offshore earthquake. The magnitude 8.8 quake struck off the coast of Russia, prompting tsunami alerts across several regions, including Hawaii, Japan and parts of the U.S. West Coast.
As thousands of Hawaiians scrambled to reach higher ground, gridlock gripped the island. Amid the chaos, rumours spread that Winfrey had refused to open her gated access road in the Kula region, where she reportedly owns 1,000 acres. The backlash surfaced quickly on platforms like X and Instagram, where users accused the media mogul of prioritizing privacy over public safety. The claims, however, were not supported by local authorities. According to BBC News, Hawaii’s tsunami warning was later downgraded to an advisory, with officials anticipating strong currents and minor coastal flooding rather than a full-scale disaster.