How a lot land does Oprah personal in Hawaii? Private street controversy defined as mogul faces on-line backlash

Independent American journalist and content material creator Nick Sortor took to X on July 29, 2025, and claimed that Oprah Winfrey has saved her “private road” connecting Wailea to Kula in Hawaii, allegedly closed. According to Sortor, locals are thus having a tough time shifting to “higher ground” within the wake of a tsunami alert throughout the island.

“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!” he captioned his publish.

It was accompanied by a 12-second video seemingly displaying the visitors circumstances in Hawaii, initially posted by the account @unjected. Sortor claimed that Maui roads have been reportedly “gridlocked.”

“‘I’m stuck with my children in the truck with sirens going off,’ Maui resident Shelby Hosana tells me. ‘If Oprah’s road was open, I could have a way to get out. Instead, we will just hope and pray the first wave time estimates are correct and we still have time to get to higher ground,’” the publish learn.

According to a September 2023 article by Business Insider, Oprah Winfrey reportedly owns roughly 1,000 acres of land throughout Maui, Hawaii. Meanwhile, in line with Khon2.com, locals assist her preserve her properties, thus contributing to the rising economic system.

Nick Sortor’s newest claims stay unverified. However, it’s noteworthy that Oprah certainly has a non-public street resulting in her property in Hawaii, as reported by Khon2.com. In the wake of the present claims towards the billionaire magnate, she’s dealing with on-line backlash.

“Why ON EARTH would you choose not to open your own private road that would allow people to get to higher ground safely? Be a hero (or just a decent human) and open the road @Oprah. Do the right thing,” a netizen wrote.

“She’s about to really be tested on her character,” one other netizen wrote.

“Good grief @Oprah Open the damn Road,” a person wrote.

Others refused to consider Nick Sortor’s claims and defended the mogul.

“This looks to be fake. I hope you’re sued,” one other person wrote.

“@CommunityNotes it’s open…” a person claimed.

Oprah Winfrey has not addressed the newest controversy on the time of writing.

All you must learn about Oprah’s Hawaii property

Oprah Winfrey owns actual property throughout the globe. However, a big a part of it’s on the Hawaiian island of Maui, which she first bought in 2003, in line with Hawaiian Guide.

At the time, she purchased 100 acres of land as a part of Maui’s upcountry, a area together with Mount Haleakalā volcano and away from the coast. Since then, she has purchased greater than a thousand acres throughout two cities in Maui, Hāna and Kula, in line with KITV4 and Maui Now.

Speaking about shopping for her first property in Kula, she advised O Magazine in 2006 that the transfer was really useful by her property supervisor and former private coach, Bob Greene. Oprah defined on the time that she bought the land to cease a developer from “building condos.”

“The original plan was to do a quick job on the house, then think about building the ultimate Hawaii homestead,” Winfrey’s decorator Ellie Cullman advised the journal again then.

However, when the discuss present host favored the unique house’s “small scale,” she determined to retain it and as an alternative gave it a renovation. Architectural designer Jeff Wooley, of John B. Murray Architect, altered the ground plan, shifted the staircase, and added an enormous veranda so each a part of the home would have a view, O Magazine reported on the time.

Meanwhile, Oprah confirmed saying she “loves” her home in Maui and known as it a “real, normal” house that felt like a “nice blanket.” In 2010, it was reported by Hawaii News Now that Winfrey deliberate to show a part of the 12-bedroom property right into a “high-end bed-and-breakfast” for her mates.

The following 12 months, Maui County Council authorised her request for a “10-year extension on her permit to operate the vacation rental.” Fast ahead to late 2021, she purchased a 3-acre property in Kula for $7 million and linked it to her authentic property.

Between late 2022 and early 2023, she bought one other set of land value $6.6 million in Kula, unfold throughout a complete of 870 acres. Maui Now additionally reported that in 2005, Winfrey bought over 200 acres of land within the coastal city of Hāna, on the easternmost tip of Maui.

It is noteworthy that each one of Oprah’s properties in Maui are owned by her firms, Harpo Inc., OW Ranch LLC, Oprah’s Farm LLC, and Yellow Brick Road LLC, in line with Maui Now.

According to KITV’s report in March 2023, Oprah helped maintain the agricultural land in Maui “treasured” and ensured that it stays undeveloped. Additionally, she employed locals to deal with her property.

Oprah confronted controversies surrounding her Maui property

Over the years, Winfrey’s Maui property has been hit by pure disasters, together with the 2019 bushfires and the 2023 wildfires. During the previous, the multihyphenate opened her non-public street to assist residents evacuate. She introduced the identical by way of a tweet in July 2019 that learn:

“Access to the road was given to county officials immediately. This was many hours ago. Hoping for the safety of all.”

In August 2023, she visited shelters throughout Maui to assist with the incoming support. At the time, she wrote on her web site, Oprah Daily, “I’m just trying to provide and be open wherever possible.”

Additionally, she joined fingers with fellow Hawaiian property proprietor Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and launched People’s Fund for Maui, the place they donated $5 million every. All proceeds from the fund went to the residents of Lāhainā, the city in Maui that was worst affected.

The pair acquired combined reactions. Some criticized them for asking the general public for donations regardless of The Rock being value $270 million and Oprah Winfrey $3 billion, in line with Forbes. Others praised their efforts. In September 2023, Winfrey known as the backlash “attacks, lies, and conspiracy theories” on CBS Mornings. She had additionally confronted earlier criticism for driving up property costs in Hawaii, together with different billionaires like Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg.

In January 2023, the media persona and producer took to her Instagram and promoted Hawaii’s tourism, urging folks to “come here” and benefit from the “aloha spirit.”

Subsequently, in March 2025, a declare circulated on-line that the FBI was investigating Oprah for her alleged land seize within the aftermath of the 2023 wildfires. However, the rumor was debunked by varied fact-checking web sites, together with Snopes.

According to Nick Sortor’s newest claims, Winfrey has allegedly not opened the street to assist locals transfer to greater floor amid the tsunami alert in Maui. He even shared a map beneath his authentic publish and wrote within the caption:

“Oprah’s paved, private road is marked in blue. It’d bring people straight to sufficient high ground. But instead, they have to take the RED route, which is the ONLY OTHER WAY to higher ground. Mostly because she owns SO MUCH LAND and doesn’t want public roads running through it.”

Sortor’s allegations stay unsubstantiated. Notably, Hawaii acquired a tsunami warning on Tuesday afternoon after an 8.8 magnitude earthquake hit the far jap coast of Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula.

Waves of 0.4 toes to over 5 toes have been reported in components of Hawaii, together with flooding in sure areas, as of 10 PM native time. However, no main injury was reported, in line with Star Adviser.

Dr. Charles “Chip” McCreery, a tsunami professional with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Director of Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, shared in a press launch that the state was previous the worst of the tsunami and emergency officers have been ready to decrease the warning to an advisory degree.