Oprah Winfrey accused of closing private Hawaii road during Tsunami evacuation

Oprah Winfrey’s rep is shutting down rumors.

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.

“As soon as we heard the tsunami warnings, we contacted local law enforcement and FEMA to ensure the road was opened,” Winfrey’s spokesperson told People on Wednesday. “Any other reports are otherwise false.”

They added, “Local law enforcement are currently on site helping residents through 50 cars at a time to ensure everyone’s safety. The road will remain open as long as necessary.”

The Maui Police Department confirmed Winfrey’s cooperation as well, writing in a statement, “Oprah’s road is open to get Upcountry.”

The Hawaiian island is also home to Woody Harrelson, Jeff Bezos and Owen Wilson.

On Tuesday, an 8.8-magnitude earthquake in Russia’s eastern Kamchatka Peninsula caused massive waves to reach Hawaii.

By early Wednesday morning, a 4-foot wave was recorded off the island of Oahu, per the BBC. 

According to CNN, another tsunami wave, over 5-feet high, was recorded in Kahului, while a 4.5-foot wave hit Hilo in Hawaii County.

Residents in Hawaii, Japan, and parts of the California coast were told to evacuate.

Hawaii’s tsunami threat was downgraded to an advisory by Tuesday evening.

At the time, Hawaii Emergency Management Agency director Stephen Logan reported that anyone who evacuated could return to their homes.

Dave Snider, the tsunami warning coordinator with the National Tsunami Warning Center in Alaska, further explained how tsunamis work. 

“A tsunami is not just one wave,” he said, per the Associated Press. “It’s a series of powerful waves over a long period of time.”

“Tsunamis cross the ocean at hundreds of miles an hour — as fast as a jet airplane — in deep water. But when they get close to the shore, they slow down and start to pile up. And that’s where that inundation problem becomes a little bit more possible there.”

Snider added, “In this case, because of the Earth basically sending out these huge ripples of water across the ocean, they’re going to be moving back and forth for quite a while.”

Winfrey first began to acquire land for her $60 million Maui pad in 2002.

The property has a private road that connects the Wailea coastal area to the Kula uplands.

This isn’t the first natural disaster to hit Hawaii in recent years.

In August 2023, the state was affected by devastating wildfires.

Winfrey’s house was not affected at the time.

However, the author donated $10 million with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson to relief efforts, but was met with fierce backlash when she asked the public to also contribute to the cause.

Critics complained they were already living “paycheck-to-paycheck,” and that celebrities should shell out more of their own dough.

“Billionaire asking for money from the poor, what a joke,” one outraged fan commented on Winfrey’s Instagram post.

The Oscar nominee was shocked by the backlash.

“I was so excited about it, and then I got up the next morning, and I saw all of this vitriol, and I was, like, ‘Whoa, what happened here?’” she told “CBS Mornings.”

“It made me sad that we are at this state in our country.”