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.

Oprah Winfrey has come under fire again, despite refuting a viral social-media rumor that she kept a private road closed during tsunami evacuation efforts in Hawaii. What began as a logistic concern has since evolved into a broader discussion about non-Indigenous billionaire land ownership on the islands.

Oprah Winfrey's representative and the president of Haleakala Ranch confirmed that a private road on Maui is owned by the ranch and not Winfrey