Question

Oprah Winfrey hired private firefighters to protect her Maui home.

Answer 1

There is no concrete evidence that Oprah Winfrey hired private investigators to protect her home from the Maui wildfires. According to Poytner, a spokesperson for Winfrey had denied the claims to PolitiFact and other private outlets that she hired private firefighters to protect her home. Maui County Civil records additionally show that her property, which is on Thompson Road in Kula, were several miles away from the fire.

Sources:

https://www.poynter.org/fact-checking/2023/oprah-winfrey-house-in-hawaii/

https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2023/sep/15/instagram-posts/no-proof-of-oprah-winfrey-hiring-a-private-firefig/

Comments

Great job using two very reliable sources in this factcheck!

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Good use of the sources and also a nice job explaining what the source was talking about!

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Good job using multiple sources, as well as good sources. This fact check also does a good job getting to the point and explaining well.

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I wonder if it is still suspicious that no celebrity homes/properties were affected by the fires as many social media posts claim.

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Good use of different sources and how explaining what evidence was provided and what was true and false.

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I appreciate the variety of sources you used and your explanation of them.

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I think your fact check was done very thoroughly as it shows the claim that Oprah did not send firefighters to her house in Maui to protect it. I also appreciated how you showed that Oprah herself denied that she sent firefighters there. I think your fact check would have benefitted with a bit more analysis but overall I think your fact check proves why this claim was misleading.

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Good job on checking other fact-checking sites to see what they've said about this claim. This adds to the validity of your fact check. I wish the fact-check had a bit more analysis and explanation as to why the claim was made in the first place, and how the suspicions began. However, I think the fact-check did a great job of addressing the claim overall.

Answer 2

A report said that Oprah was rumored to be hiring firefighters to protect her house in Maui. But that was proven to be false news and spreading of misinformation. 

"Asked about the viral TikTok, a spokesperson for Winfrey told Newsweek all allegations in the video were false."

The TikTok video that was posted did catch the attention of oprah and she did address them

https://www.newsweek.com/oprah-winfrey-denies-maui-home-wildfire-tiktok-video-1825986

https://whur.com/news/oprah-winfrey-firefighters-tmaui-wildfire-donations/

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/10/us/maui-fires-celebrity-homes.html

Comments

Good work finding three credible sources. I would add a little more information from the sources into your comment next time, but nice work overall.

Answer 3

This is not true, there is no proof to show that Oprah Winfrey hired a private firefighter team to protect her properties in Maui. 

According to poynter.org, the fake news about Winfrey hiring private firefighters started with a video on Instagram. 

“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.

However, politifact proved this video as fake news, because a spokesperson for Winfrey claimed that hiring private firefighters is not true. 

There's no proof of Oprah Winfrey hiring a private firefighting team before the Maui wildfires - Poynter

PolitiFact | No proof of Oprah Winfrey hiring a private firefighting team before Maui wildfires

Comments

Good job using two sources and using those sources to build/strengthen the argument of your claim.

Answer 4

According to multiple sources as well as a spokesperson for Oprah, she did not hire private firefighters for her house in Maui. Not only did she not hire private firefighters, she didn't need to. According to Poynter, "Winfrey owns property on Thompson Road in Kula, several miles away from the fires." Since she is so far away, she wouldn't have a need for firefighters. 

https://www.poynter.org/fact-checking/2023/oprah-winfrey-house-in-hawaii/#:~:text=A%20spokesperson%20for%20Oprah%20denied,a%20distance%20from%20the%20wildfires. 

Answer 5

Ah, don't we all love a good case of social media taking some rumor and accepting it as law of the universe. 

This rumor started on Instagram on September 7. A woman made a video saying “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.”
It was actually flagged as misinformation by Instagram.
https://www.poynter.org/fact-checking/2023/oprah-winfrey-house-in-hawaii/

This is far from the only fact checking site that has marked this claim as false. The fact that the source OP provided is from TikTok, where anyone can become the god of the universe when it comes to celebrity gossip, is the icing on the cake. This is a lovely example of that phenomenon. 

Comments

Yessssss you found out where the rumor started, well done

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I used the same source as you did in my fact check, and I like how you explained it really well. I also thought it was good how you added where the rumor started, as it is 100% just a rumor started without any basis.

Answer 6

This claim is false. There is no evidence to back up this claim and it is strictly media speculation as most posts are. According to pontyer.org, an Oprah Winfrey spokes person came forward and denied these allegations. Newsweek even states that "Winfrey later returned and was filmed doling out supplies to survivors, with officials at the site describing the star as "polite and obliging." So, there was no malicious planning on behalf of the star that we can see. 

https://www.poynter.org/fact-checking/2023/oprah-winfrey-house-in-hawaii/#:~:text=A%20spokesperson%20for%20Oprah%20denied,a%20distance%20from%20the%20wildfires.

https://www.newsweek.com/oprah-winfrey-denies-maui-home-wildfire-tiktok-video-1825986

Comments

I didn’t realize Newsweek fact-checked this claim. Good work locating it.

Answer 7

After looking at various news sites and a statement from Oprah Winfrey herself, I think that this claimed can be deemed as false. 

According to Newsweek, a TikTok video that was originally posted by AlltheNope made numerous allegations, which stated that Winfrey hired a private firefighting team before the fires spread, private security to prevent people from seeking shelter at her property, and bought her land for "pennies on the dollar."

However, none of the claims in the TikTok were backed with evidence, and Newsweek was unable to determine the truth of this information/data anywhere. Winfrey has faced criticism before (during the wildfire crisis), as well as other news articles using falsified photos against her.

Furthermore, Poynter states that the accusation of hiring a private firefighting team comes after Winfrey and Dwayne Johnson established the "People's Fund of Maui." A comment was made in an Instagram video by a woman claiming that Winfrey hired the firefighting team secretly to protect her own home, but Meta flagged the post to combat false news.

Poynter did not find any government records or news reports that Winfrey hired a private team to protect her properties. No concrete evidence is provided to back this claim.

Answer 8

This is not true. Oprah Winfrey did not hire private firefighters to protect her home, as Oprah's spokesperson denied the claim.

The American host and television producer-owned properties in Maui were located away from the wildfires. She owns around 1,000 acres of land in the towns of Hāna and Kula. 

https://www.poynter.org/fact-checking/2023/oprah-winfrey-house-in-hawaii/#:~:text=A%20spokesperson%20for%20Oprah%20denied,a%20distance%20from%20the%20wildfires.&text=After%20recent%20wildfires%20in%20Maui,to%20aid%20the%20victims'%20recovery. 

https://www.insider.com/oprah-winfrey-land-maui-hawaii-details-photos-history-2023-9#oprah-winfrey-owns-real-estate-around-the-world-but-a-large-chunk-of-her-property-is-on-the-hawaiian-island-of-maui-1 

Answer 9

This claim is false. There is no evidence that suggests that this is true. A key factor in this claim is that Oprah's home is located in an area that has not been affected by the wildfire. I looked at a fact check by Poynter which included many sources describing the situation. The article also included a map which shows which regions of Maui were hit by the fire and which ones were not. According to Poynter, "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" (Poynter).

https://www.poynter.org/fact-checking/2023/oprah-winfrey-house-in-hawaii/#:~:text=A%20spokesperson%20for%20Winfrey%20told,December%202022%20and%20February%202023.

Answer 10

There is zero evidence that Oprah hired firefighters to come protect her house from the Maui fires. According to Poynter, there are "no government records, news reports, or any proof that Winfrey hired a private firefighting team to protect her properties." Also according to that same Poynter article, Winfrey's house was multiple miles away from where the fire was. 

Additionally, according to the LA Times, Winfrey with help from the Rock started a charity fund to help the victims of the Maui fires. They are insuring that any donations they get are given directly to the victims as this was one of the most destructive wildfires in recent history. 

https://www.poynter.org/fact-checking/2023/oprah-winfrey-house-in-hawaii/#:~:text=A%20spokesperson%20for%20Oprah%20denied,a%20distance%20from%20the%20wildfires.

https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/story/2023-08-31/maui-fires-oprah-winfrey-dwayne-johnson-fund-backlash