Oprah and the Rock Face Outrage Over Misleading Maui Relief Fund

With the amount of money that Oprah Winfrey has, along with her vast connections, she and her Hollywood buddy Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson could quickly and easily provide financial assistance to the residents in Maui who suffered and lost their homes to the wildfires.

Rather than mobilize their elite friends into taking action, the duo instead called upon all of the working class citizens to donate to their fund.

They claimed that the “People’s Fund of Maui” would provide immediate assistance to the victims.

They pledged $10 million of their own wealth to the fund.

However, many questioned why Oprah (net worth $2.5 Billion) and Johnson ($270 million) wouldn’t have donated more themselves.

At the very least, they could have asked for help from their rich celebrity friends.

Instead, they provided the “infrastructure” for their idea following the donations.

You’re telling me they couldn’t just get this money directly to the people themselves?

Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson and Oprah Winfrey face backlash for asking fans to donate to Maui fund instead of contributing more themselves https://t.co/vOaLsdPrvI

— Insider (@thisisinsider) September 4, 2023

Business Insider has more on the outrage:

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Oprah Winfrey launched a relief fund to help aid local residents who were affected by wildfires that ravaged large sections of Maui, Hawaii, but viewers hit back and asked why the celebrity duo couldn’t donate more of their own millions, instead of appealing to people with less money.

The duo immediately came under criticism for their alleged relief fund by those questioning why the billionaire talk show host and the highest paid actor in Hollywood wouldn’t just contribute more of their own money:

Winfrey’s upload received 834,000 views and just 11,000 likes — unusually low for a video with this many views — compared to over 53,000 comments, many of which shared a similar sentiment to those on Instagram.

“I support Maui and the cause. But why are you asking us common folk who live paycheck to paycheck. We struggle to put food on table. Who helps us?” one top comment read.

Johnson’s upload received 1.4 million views and similar criticism in the comments section.

Multiple users also posted videos reacting to the clip, stressing the duo should be digging deeper into their own pockets, or asking their fellow millionaire and celebrity friends to pledge, instead of appealing to regular people who may be struggling financially.

According to Forbes, Winfrey has a net worth of $2.5 billion and owns at least 13 properties on the Hawaiian islands. Johnson, the world’s highest-paid actor, is worth $270 million, the outlet reported.

Oprah is worth $2.5 BILLION and Dwayne Johnson is the highest paid actor in all of Hollywood…

At the very least, why wouldn’t they implore their millionaire friends to donate?

These are legitimate questions that people are asking.

The two touted their fund on social media:

We're honored to announce the People’s Fund of Maui, a fund putting money directly in the pockets of those who were affected by the recent wildfires.

As @Oprah and I have seen firsthand, the impacts of these wildfires have been devastating, and we’re here to ensure with 100%… pic.twitter.com/iH6cPwbQ3k

— Dwayne Johnson (@TheRock) August 31, 2023

The criticism was swift, with many claiming that the video they released was misleading:

🔥🚨DEVELOPING: Oprah Winfrey just explained how her and Dwayne, ‘The Rock’ Johnson used their $5 million dollars to startup the People’s Fund of Maui instead of donating the $10 million Oprah stated:

“The infrastructure is in place for your donations to help people be able to… pic.twitter.com/d5OOKKMwS0

— Dom Lucre | Breaker of Narratives (@dom_lucre) September 3, 2023

🔥🚨BREAKING: After announcing that he was starting a fund from his money with Oprah, Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson is now asking for donations to assist the victims of the Maui fires in Hawaii as he surveys the area.

The $5 million dollars that him and Oprah gave was only the… pic.twitter.com/k7KJFqI0zt

— Dom Lucre | Breaker of Narratives (@dom_lucre) September 3, 2023

Oprah and The Rock are now asking Americans to donate money to help Maui…

How about they can use their combined billions to help Maui on their own.

— Tim Young (@TimRunsHisMouth) September 1, 2023

🚨COME OUT YOUR POCKETS🚨

So we now have OPRAH WINFREY and DWAYNE “THE ROCK” JOHNSON in a video asking regular people to donate their hard earned money during a strapped economy

💥OPRAH has a net worth of at least $3 BILLION

💥THE ROCK has a net worth of around $1 BILLION… pic.twitter.com/S8mNwrvqBd

— {Matt} $XRPatriot (@matttttt187) September 1, 2023

Before anyone is crazy enough to donate, know that the funds that Both Oprah and the Rock wants the everyday Americans to donate to is managed by a “nonprofit” company called the Entertainment Industry Foundation. There are 13 executives that get paid over $3 million and… pic.twitter.com/HeZxybJsM6

— ꪻꫝể ꪻꫝể (@TheThe1776) September 1, 2023

Another lady is letting Oprah and The Rock know how she feels about them
asking peasants for money to raise for Maui.

Watch until the end 🤣🤣🤣 pic.twitter.com/dReRUE2EGZ

— I Meme Therefore I Am 🇺🇸 (@ImMeme0) September 3, 2023

🔥🚨BREAKING: After announcing that he was starting a fund from his money with Oprah, Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson is now asking for donations to assist the victims of the Maui fires in Hawaii as he surveys the area.

The $5 million dollars that him and Oprah gave was only the… pic.twitter.com/DAZNxkABTj

— Matt Baker (@slave_2_liberty) September 3, 2023

After an overwhelming backlash, Oprah & The Rock have disabled the comments in their ‘People’s Fund of Maui’ promotion pic.twitter.com/6XKk0N6XZK

— Chief Nerd (@TheChiefNerd) September 4, 2023