No, Oprah Winfrey didn’t block access to a road in Hawaii amid tsunami warning evacuations

After Wednesday's 8.8 magnitude quake, false claims spread online that Winfrey refused to let the public use a private road in Maui - and not for the first time

Even as the threat of a tsunami swamping Hawaii had passed on Wednesday, social media posts were still circulating claims that Oprah Winfrey had refused immediate access to a private road that would allow residents a shorter evacuation route.

The warnings followed one of the century's most powerful earthquakes, an 8.8 magnitude quake that struck off a Russian peninsula and generated tsunami warnings and advisories for a wide swath of the Pacific. Posts on X and TikTok contended Winfrey refused to open her private road, or was slow to do so during the evacuation.