Oprah Winfrey’s spokesperson on Tuesday hit again at claims, together with from native Maui residents, that she saved her non-public highway on the island closed as folks tried to drive upcountry to flee incoming tsunami waves triggered by a strong 8.8-magnitude underseas earthquake off Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula.
However gridlocked roads have been reported throughout Maui Tuesday afternoon and night, as folks sought greater floor in case the waves proved lethal. Claims that Winfrey saved her non-public highway closed flourished on social media and gave the impression to be supported by a video, posted to X and seen by greater than 2 million occasions, which was was recorded by a self-described Maui resident. The video confirmed the person driving by what he mentioned was the doorway to Winfrey’s non-public highway.
“Look at this. I think they’re trying to open Oprah’s road,” the person mentioned. His video confirmed photographs of legislation enforcement automobiles stationed on the entrance to the highway and motorists not in a position to go previous them.
“Still closed,” the person mentioned concerning the highway. “Man! She’s got her own road from Wailea all the way upcountry, which is the safe zone.”
A group notice was added to a different X publish, which additionally claimed that Winfrey saved her highway closed. The notice mentioned that the highway was in actual fact open, citing the Maui Police Division. A County of Maui discover learn: “Maui Veterans Highway is congested; use Cane Haul Road toward Hansen and Pulehu roads to get to Kula. Road above Makena Golf Course provides access to Ulupalakua. Also, Oprah’s road is open to get Upcountry, according to Maui Police Department.”
Due to the gridlock on many roads, some Maui locals and vacationers slept of their automobiles Tuesday evening, CNN reported. Later Tuesday, CNN reported {that a} tsunami wave of greater than 5 ft was reported in Kahului, on the north-central shore of Maui island in Hawaii, in accordance with information from the Nationwide Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
However the former talk-show host and billionaire media mogul confronted some native hostility for her response to the wildfires in 2023, which have been centered in and round Lahaina and killed 115 folks. Within the aftermath of fires, she was accused of hiring a personal firefighting group to guard her property. Her spokesperson on the time denied the declare, which additionally was debunked, partially as a result of her property wasn’t near the fires, Poynter reported.
Winfrey additionally confronted blowback for her joint effort with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, one other part-time resident of Maui, to ascertain a “People’s Fund of Maui” to lift cash to help hearth victims’ restoration. Whereas Winfrey and Johnson began the fund with a $10 million donation, the 2 massively wealth celebrities have been criticized for not donating sufficient of their very own cash to the fund and for anticipating common folks to offer the majority of the assist.
Initially Revealed: July 30, 2025 at 9:25 AM PDT
