Oprah Winfrey responds to claims about blocking Maui road amid tsunami evacuation, denies allegations

Oprah Winfrey has refuted circulating online allegations that she blocked off a private road on her Maui property, which critics claimed prevented residents from accessing safe ground during a tsunami evacuation.

Winfrey, the billionaire media icon, owns a home on Maui, the Hawaiian island that went on high alert following tsunami warnings after a powerful 8.8-magnitude earthquake struck Russia. The warnings triggered emergency protocols across the region as residents and visitors scrambled to reach higher ground to evade possible flood risks.

According to Nicole Nichols, a spokesperson for Oprah Winfrey, the television host's team acted promptly upon learning of the tsunami threat. She stated that Winfrey’s representatives immediately contacted both local law enforcement and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to ensure that evacuation routes—including the road in question—were accessible.


“Any reports otherwise are false,” Nichols told Agence France-Presse, emphasizing that the property owner and her staff prioritized public safety and worked directly with the relevant authorities to facilitate evacuation operations.

Despite these assurances, social media platforms were awash with accusations suggesting that Winfrey had refused to open the private road to evacuees, a claim that went viral and accumulated millions of views across posts.

However, official communications from Maui county contradict these viral assertions. Emergency alerts disseminated during the crisis repeatedly listed the road traversing Winfrey’s property as a viable evacuation option, indicating no extended closure against evacuees during the critical period.

Local officials have not reported any instances where the route was inaccessible when needed, reinforcing the narrative from Winfrey’s team that the road was open in accordance with emergency protocols.