Oprah Winfrey rejects claims she closed Hawaii road, blocking tsunami evacuees
The billionaire talk-show host has a home on the island of Maui. Tsunami warnings were issued after a magnitude 8.8 earthquake struck Russia
Oprah Winfrey refuted widespread online claims on Wednesday that she blocked off a private road on a Hawaii property she owns, preventing tsunami evacuees from quickly reaching higher ground.
Nicole Nichols, a spokesperson for the billionaire talk-show host, told Agence France-Presse Winfrey’s team contacted local law enforcement and the Federal Emergency Management Agency to ensure the road was opened “as soon as we heard the tsunami warnings”.
“Any reports otherwise are false,” Nichols said in a statement.
Across social media, angry users accused Winfrey of refusing to make her road available at any point to evacuees, despite heavy traffic on the island. Some posts amassed millions of views.
But Maui officials repeatedly listed the route as an option in emergency alerts.