Investigative reporter and podcaster Nick Sortor recently reported that Oprah Winfrey's private road in Maui has been opened after the host and TV producer faced public pressure for its closure amid a tsunami alert in Hawaii. In a tweet dated July 29, 2025, Sortor wrote:"🚨 BREAKING: Following INTENSE public pressure, Oprah’s private road has been OPENED to those escaping the tsunami. WELL DONE, EVERYONE! 👏 It should’ve been opened HOURS ago, but if you’re in Wailea on Maui and need to get to higher ground, USE OPRAH’S ROAD NOW! Haleakala Ranch Rd, Maui, HI"According to the BBC's live reports dated July 30, 2025, the first waves of the tsunami triggered by an 8.8-magnitude earthquake off Russia's coast reached Hawaii, with a 4-foot wave recorded off the coast of Oahu. Additionally, people in some parts of the U.S. West Coast, Japan, and Hawaii have been advised to evacuate the region after "one of the strongest earthquakes in modern history hit Russia's eastern Kamchatka Peninsula."Amid warnings of the tsunami, people in the region took to social media platforms like X, claiming that the TV persona hadn't opened her private road, which was one of the routes for people to escape to safety. This resulted in the TV producer receiving backlash, followed by news that the private route had finally become accessible to the public. According to Hawaii News Now's report, the route, called theThompson Road, runs through Oprah's private property owned by the Oprah Winfrey Ranch. Moreover, this is not the first time Oprah has allowed the public to access the private route, as she had previously opened it for evacuees of the Maui fire in 2019.At the time, the TV personality had tweeted:"Access to the road was given to county officials immediately. This was many hours ago. Hoping for the safety of all.”Since Oprah had opened the road to assist evacuation during the 2023 Maui wildfires, the public expected her to take the same action amid the tsunami warnings as well."Whoa, what happened here?": When Oprah Winfrey addressed criticism for the Maui Wildfires Fund alongside Dwayne JohnsonThe recent instance of Oprah Winfrey receiving backlash for not having opened her private route to enable a faster escape to safety for people amid tsunami warnings in Hawaii is not the first instance for the TV persona.During the 2023 Maui wildfires, Winfrey and Dwyane "The Rock" Johnson launched the People's Fund of Maui, offering financial assistance to victims of the wildfire.However, the effort was criticized by many, as it was a fund supported by public donations, and many believed that celebrities like Winfrey and Dwayne Johnson shouldn't have to ask ordinary people to contribute to such funds. View this post on Instagram Instagram PostAddressing the backlash and stating that it took away the essence of the effort, Oprah told CBS Mornings in September 2023:“All the online [conversations] — being slammed, lies, conspiracy theories — really took the focus off of what was the most important thing and that was the people of Maui. I was on the ground talking to lots of people trying to figure out how do I best help.”She continued:“I was so excited about it. Then, I got up the next morning, and I saw all of this vitriol, and I was like, ‘Whoa, what happened here?’ So, this is what I want to say,” Winfrey shared. “I think, in the beginning, so many people were calling asking, ‘Where do we give our money to?’ So, I thought, ‘I’m gonna give people a place to… We’re gonna create something.'”Winfrey took a strong stance on the wildfire funding effort, stating that it was a significant step to put money directly into the hands of the people.In other news, neither Winfrey nor her team has commented on the delay in opening her private route for evacuees during the Hawaii tsunami alert.