The unabating ire that Oprah Winfrey and Dwayne Johnson currently face commenced after the duo established their Maui wildfire relief fund and requested the public to donate to it — despite having a combined net worth that easily crosses several billions. The backlash over the mega-rich celebs expecting the common folks to shell out dollars is not expected to die anytime soon, at least not when its two focal points — who are strangely or deliberately unaware of the negative feedback— keep pushing the agenda.
After Johnson received further flak just hours ago for doubling down on seeking financial support from the public, Oprah joined him in the fray with what many would describe as a heartfelt video of gratitude to the “10,000 people” who have already made donations to their fund and many other volunteers working on the grounds to help the Maui residents.
Her message — once again — has rubbed people the wrong way — whether it is the fact that the said residents would only get $1200 per month from the fund (which doesn’t even cover half of an individual’s average monthly housing rent in Maui), the doubts it has raised about the authenticity of the said fund, or the real kicker, that a billionaire wants donations from people making decimal percentages of her yearly profit.
While the latter reigns as the supreme sentiment in the comments of the post, many have resorted to questioning the talk show host about the 1000+ acres of land she owns in Maui and how she should give it back to the people of the island. “This is the most out of touch thing ive ever seen in my life. SELL YOUR LAND TO THE PPL OF MAUI,” reads one comment, while another is adamant that Oprah returns the land she purchased:
“Donate the land you bought from them back to them! Donate not sell not rent give them the land back!”
There are many more similar statements peppered throughout the comments section, including responses in defense of Oprah pointing out that she purchased land in Maui to preserve it and protect it from those who would recklessly buy it and destroy its natural beauty with their constructions. As Oprah has never really defended her purchases with official reasons, decoding whether she harbors negative or positive motives for buying Maui property will probably never reach a conclusion.
But will Oprah and Johnson donating a bigger percentage of their massive wealth fasten the pace at which the fund can resolve the crisis at hand? Yes. But does the duo deserve to be dragged through digital thorns for overlooking the crucial fact? Well, the jury is clearly still out on that one.
