You knew this was coming: a natural disaster, a celebrity, and the Internet doing what it does best — turning it into a scandal.
This time the target was Oprah Winfrey, who found herself the subject of furious social media posts accusing her of keeping a private road through her $100 million Maui estate closed while local residents scrambled to get to higher ground after a tsunami warning.
BREAKING: Oprah HAS NOT opened her private road from Wailea to Kula, Hawaii, which would allow coastal folks to reach higher ground quickly, locals tell me
OPEN THE ROAD, @OPRAH!
Roads on Maui are GRIDLOCKED as people try to escape the incoming Tsunami
“I’m stuck with my… pic.twitter.com/UaPiDJpjqG
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) July 30, 2025
The story had all the ingredients for viral outrage: billionaire, private road, life-or-death situation. But according to Oprah’s team — and local law enforcement — it wasn’t true.
“As soon as we heard the tsunami warnings, we contacted local law enforcement and FEMA to ensure the road was opened. Any reports otherwise are false,” Winfrey’s spokesperson said in a statement.
The Maui Police Department even backed that up in an earlier advisory: “Oprah’s road is open to get Upcountry.”
BREAKING: Following INTENSE public pressure, Oprah’s private road has been OPENED to those escaping the tsunami
WELL DONE, EVERYONE!
It should’ve been opened HOURS ago, but if you’re in Wailea on Maui and need to get to higher ground, USE OPRAH’S ROAD NOW!
Haleakala… pic.twitter.com/u8sBnFdDHE
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) July 30, 2025
For context, Oprah’s estate stretches from the coastal area of Wailea up to the uplands of Kula and includes a private road that’s a potential escape route in emergencies. So when a massive 8.8-magnitude earthquake struck off Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula — the strongest there since 1952 — and tsunami alerts went out across Hawaii, people understandably wanted that road open.
To be fair, you can see how this blew up online. The idea of Maui residents begging for access to higher ground while a billionaire’s gate stays shut? That’s outrage fuel. But at least in this case, it looks like the road was open, and Oprah’s team coordinated with FEMA as soon as the warnings went out.
Tons of Commercial vessels, privately owned boats, and Coast Guard vessels are currently in the process of a mass evacuation of the Port of Honolulu and surrounding harbors as a tsunami enters its final approach on the island.
The Visual Graphic via @MarineTraffic pic.twitter.com/UNBZoU692L
— Kagan.Dunlap (@Kagan_M_Dunlap) July 30, 2025
The tsunami alerts have since been downgraded across most of the Pacific to advisories. Still, the Coast Guard has ordered the evacuation of commercial vessels from all Hawaiian harbors just in case.
So no, Oprah didn’t leave anyone stranded on the coast. But in 2025? A celebrity billionaire defending herself against the Internet mob might as well be part of the disaster playbook.
