Oprah Winfrey has responded after viral social media posts claimed she kept her private road closed off despite tsunami warnings in Hawaii, with other roads gridlocked with people fleeing the coast to reach higher ground.

If you were to believe some posts on social media, the billionaire media mogul Oprah Winfrey — who lives in Maui part-time — was accused of callously refusing to let evacuees use her private road to shorten their travel time. But it's typically a bad idea to believe what you see on social media.

Numerous social media posts claimed the media mogul "refused" to open her private road as cars attempted to reach higher ground.