‘Are they going to carpool to Canada?’: Is Oprah Winfrey leaving the United States?

Oprah Winfrey‘s name went viral after a far-right influencer under investigation for rape and human trafficking, Andrew Tate, added her name to a list of every celebrity promising to leave the country after Donald Trump’s election. However, Tate’s list is as weak as his legal defense.

The phenomenon of celebrities threatening to leave America due to political outcomes has become a recurring theme since 2016. During Trump’s first victory, numerous Hollywood figures made declarations about leaving, though most remained in the country. Whoopi Goldberg, who initially suggested leaving, later made her position clear: “I wouldn’t leave this country for him to piss all over, for any reason. I’ve been here since the late 1700s.” Miley Cyrus, who had vowed to leave in 2016, later told Vanity Fair, “We all said a bunch of shit we didn’t mean.” 

The 2024 election has generated a new wave of celebrity departure announcements, though many echo similar threats from 2016. Before the election, Barbara Streisand told Stephen Colbert she “can’t live in this country if he becomes president,” while Sharon Stone said in July she was “considering a house in Italy.” Cher similarly told The Guardian in October 2023 that she “almost got an ulcer last time” and would leave if Trump won. 

What actually distinguishes 2024 from previous years is that some celebrities are taking concrete action. Eva Longoria has already begun dividing her time between Spain and Mexico, while America Ferrera is actively looking at private schools in South West London for her children. Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi have already relocated to the British Cotswolds, being among the first actually to follow through on their departure plans. Oprah, however, has never made any public plans to leave.

Oprah Winfrey has never promised to join the post-election exodus

Unlike some celebrities who have made explicit statements about leaving, Oprah Winfrey has never expressed any intention to relocate abroad. Tate’s inclusion of her name appears particularly egregious given that she’s one of many celebrities Tate falsely cited. Taylor Swift, Travis Kelce, Kim Kardashian, Tom Hanks, Bill Gates, Lady Gaga, Mark Ruffalo, George Clooney, Robert De Niro, Eminem, and Bono have also made no public statements about leaving the country if Trump won. 

That should come as a surprise, given how questionable Tate’s credibility is. The influencer faces trial in Romania for human trafficking and forming an organized criminal group, with prosecutors compiling hundreds of pages of testimony and evidence. In addition, his “Hustler’s University” operation, charging monthly fees for questionable money-making advice to subscribers as young as 13, has drawn criticism for targeting vulnerable youth. It’s no wonder major social media platforms, including TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube, have banned him for hate speech violations.

Out of the dozens of celebrities Tate named in his hate-filled livestream, only twelve had ever made any statements about leaving the US, and most of those were from previous election cycles or were jokes taken out of context. This pattern of fabrication extends to his claims about political figures —  Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Nancy Pelosi, and Hillary Clinton, who have remained focused on their political work within the United States rather than threatening departure.