News that American TV queen Oprah Winfrey is being investigated by the FBI for land grabbing is fake

Information and images related to the FBI investigation of Oprah Winfrey for land grabbing spread widely on American social networks, but these accusations are completely fabricated.

There is no evidence that the FBI is investigating Oprah Winfrey for land grabbing – Photo: REUTERS

Since late March, rumors have been spreading widely on American social networks that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is investigating “TV queen” Oprah Winfrey for land grabbing on Maui Island (Hawaii) after a serious forest fire broke out in the town of Lahaina in August 2023.

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According to a report by the fact-checking site Snopes on May 25, these contents spread in the form of photos and videos on Facebook, X, Instagram, TikTok and the Americas Best Pics page, with the claim that Ms. Oprah Winfrey owns more than half of the island of Maui and is under investigation by the FBI.

On May 21, a short video posted by the Facebook page of America’s Last Line of Defense (ALLOD), with the content claiming that Ms. Winfrey was being investigated by the FBI, caused the rumor that appeared since March to spread again.

The viral video used footage from the 2023 Lahaina fire, accompanied by the caption “ Oprah Winfrey deserves to go to jail.” In just one day, the video attracted more than 9,500 likes, 1,400 comments, and 4,600 shares.

On May 25, Snopes officially denied this rumor and affirmed that there was no evidence that the FBI was investigating Ms. Winfrey regarding real estate activities on Maui island.

Through image source checking tools, Snopes determined that the photos in the viral video were aerial shots of the 2023 Lahaina wildfire , owned by the Getty Images platform.

In fact, Ms. Winfrey once owned some real estate in this area, but there is no evidence that she took advantage of the wildfires for personal gain.

According to Snopes ‘ report , the above information comes from ALLOD – a network that specializes in posting satirical and fictional content to amuse or profit from users who do not realize that this is fake information.

On the Facebook platform, ALLOD also claims to be a place that specializes in spreading fake news and teasing for the purpose of making money.

Accordingly, all content from this network is labeled “S”, meaning satirical news, but when shared as photos or videos, this annotation label is often overlooked or misunderstood by viewers.

Snopes also said it had debunked many other fabricated stories spread by ALLOD about Ms. Winfrey.

The allegations that Winfrey allegedly tried to buy tens of thousands of damaged properties in areas affected by Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton, or that she ran a children’s charity that raised $140 million but only donated 310 coats, are completely fabricated.