After recent wildfires in Maui killed 115 people, Oprah Winfrey and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson established the “People’s Fund of Maui” to aid the victims’ recovery. But social media users lobbed criticisms against Winfrey, a Maui landowner.
“You’re so concerned about what’s happening in Maui that you somehow managed to hire a private firefighting team to protect your land before the fire started,” a woman said in a Sept. 7 Instagram video.
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A spokesperson for Winfrey told PolitiFact and other outlets the private firefighting claim isn’t true.
Winfrey has lived in Maui part-time for over 15 years. Maui Now reported that she purchased about 870 acres of agricultural land in the island’s Kula region for $6.6 million in December 2022 and February 2023. She also owns land in Maui’s Haleakalā Ranch and Hāna.
According to Maui County, the Maui wildfires that broke out in August had perimeters in Lahaina, Pulehu-Kihei, Kula and Olinda.
The fact-checking site Verify reported that Maui County Council records show Winfrey owns property on Thompson Road in Kula, several miles away from the fires. Haleakalā and Hāna were far from the fires.
We did not find any government records, news reports of any proof that Winfrey hired a private firefighting team to protect her properties. We rate the claim False.
This fact check was originally published by PolitiFact, which is part of the Poynter Institute. See the sources for this fact check here.
