Reported claimRated DW Fact check: Misleading At the time the post was published on X, the road in question was already open to traffic, as the Maui Police Department clarified in a statement: "Oprah's road is open to get Upcountry." A spokesperson for Oprah Winfrey reacted to the claims in a statement shared with Newsweek: "As soon as we heard the tsunami warnings, we contacted local law enforcement and FEMA to ensure the road was opened. Any reports otherwise are false." Nevertheless, the claim that Oprah Winfrey would block her street to public traffic even in the face of the approaching tsunami persisted. On X in particular, posts to this effect reached millions of people, and the narrative also spread on Threads and TikTok. People reacted with anger to these posts. Some users posted videos showing that the road is open to traffic. This, as well as confirmation by the Maui police, undermine claims that Oprah Winfrey is blocking public use of her road to higher areas of the island of Maui, showing such posts to be misleading. · DW
DW rated the claim “Oprah Winfrey accused of blocking a private road” DW Fact check: Misleading At the time the post was published on X, the road in question was already open to traffic, as the Maui Police Department clarified in a statement: "Oprah's road is open to get Upcountry." A spokesperson for Oprah Winfrey reacted to the claims in a statement shared with Newsweek: "As soon as we heard the tsunami warnings, we contacted local law enforcement and FEMA to ensure the road was opened. Any reports otherwise are false." Nevertheless, the claim that Oprah Winfrey would block her street to public traffic even in the face of the approaching tsunami persisted. On X in particular, posts to this effect reached millions of people, and the narrative also spread on Threads and TikTok. People reacted with anger to these posts. Some users posted videos showing that the road is open to traffic. This, as well as confirmation by the Maui police, undermine claims that Oprah Winfrey is blocking public use of her road to higher areas of the island of Maui, showing such posts to be misleading..
Shown as reported and rated by a fact checker, not as an established fact.
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