‘Don’t drink Oprah’s Kool-Aid’: The insidious nature of new Maui wildfire relief fund is being broken down in real time

Oprah Winfrey and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson have landed themselves on the internet’s list of hated celebrities, and it’s for a reason that some might call altruistic. For the people impacted by the Maui Wildfires, however, their recent stunt is seen as less compassionate and more insidious.   

The celebrities partnered up to “solve a problem” earlier this week, answering the call of Oprah’s many fans who were confused about where they could donate funds and be assured they would reach their intended recipients. Rather than send them to the Red Cross, Winfrey decided to create her own relief fund, and partnered with Johnson to build The People’s Fund of Maui. The foundation was started with ten million of the millionaire’s own dollars, and promises to give qualified recipients $1200 a month, “until funds run out.”  What looks like a gesture of kindness is being torn apart by users online, as they decry the pair for being disingenuous, and the evidence does not look good.

TikTok user _.sheilove was just one of many to put them on blast. She questions why the funds would be rationed so strictly, asking, “Is it because you don’t ever want the people to come into a large enough sum of money… to maybe potential rebuild their f***ing homes?” She goes on to question why anyone should trust the celebrities to follow through on their word, and wonders why the pair thought it was their place to start the foundation in the first place. What’s worse, she points out, is that as far as we know, they directly control the disbursement of funds.

“How much are your operating expenses? Is it miraculously going to run out of money the minute people stop talking about it?” she questions. Commenters were quick to point out the potential interest the funds could generate.  The celebrities “generously” added $10 million of their own money to cushion the coffer, but should the donations be set up in a way to generate interest, the pair will net more than $40,000 a month with the original amount. _.sheilove goes on to express that, if Oprah isn’t purposefully using her influence to amass more money, then, “She’s missing the f***in’ point. It shows how out of touch she is.”

The average cost of living on the island is upwards of 120k, so it’s not as if the $1200 a month is more than a drop in the bucket. The pittance payout barely covers half of the average rent in Maui, which sits between $2500 and $3500 a month. The site makes no mention of single parent households with multiple children as an exception to the rule of $1200, another point of contention for many. It comes as yet another tone-deaf celebrity moment. Oprah claimed to be “listening to the people” in her announcement video but seems like she didn’t comprehend. Or, as _.sheilove asserts, purposefully ignored what people needed.

“She is trying to take control of people’s goodwill. What the f*** is 1200 a month,” the TikToker continued. Her comment section was overflowing with approving messages, familiar frustration tinging each response. People are tired of the wealthy showing nearly empty platitudes, and worse multimillionaires begging average folks for money, especially during a period of economic hardship for most Americans.

To put the anger in perspective, the Oprah is worth somewhere in the range of $3.5 billion dollars. According to the Federal reserve, the average price of a home is about 525,000 dollars (We’d like to think that the million dollar homes are skewing this number a bit). That means that if Oprah donated less than half of her fortune, she could build roughly 1900 homes. That’s more than half of the estimated 2,700 destroyed properties on the island, which includes business as well. There has been plenty of blowback for the move, but even so, there are still Oprah loyalists who will blindly trust her opinion. Most bystanders are viewing this minor fund distribution as a way to keep the residents from rebuilding, “she’s not trying to help these people retain their property and rebuild their homes,” the TikToker asserts. “It is so f***** transparent…. Do not donate to this fund.”