Final week, we reported that the billionaire Oprah Winfrey was being hit with backlash together with the multi-millionaire Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson for asking for donations to victims of the Maui wildfires regardless of solely every giving $5 million themselves. Now, Winfrey has damaged her silence to deal with this backlash for the primary time, and let’s simply say she’s not completely satisfied about it.
🚨Breaking🚨
Oprah reacts to the backlash of her Folks’s Fund of Maui pic.twitter.com/v1Q0iEyY7N— Malachi Maxey (@malachimaxeyusa) September 13, 2023
Winfrey Hit With Backlash
Daily Mail reported that Winfrey, 69, and Johnson, 52, posted a video to Instagram final week through which they requested followers to donate to the Folks’s Fund of Maui, saying that the cash can be immediately distributed to these affected by the fires within the historic city of Lahaina. Many have been livid, nonetheless, when the pair revealed they’d every donated solely $5 million, a small portion of their wealth given the truth that Winfrey reportedly has a internet price of $2.8 billion whereas Johnson is price an estimated $800 million.
“A billionaire and a millionaire asking YOU to donate YOUR cash?” one social media consumer commented, with one other including, “Lady you bought some nerve asking us working class individuals who can barely afford to place meals on the desk for our households to donate…why don’t you ask your millionaire/billionaire buddies to assist.”
“Math ain’t mathing with this one. You man’s actually have a lot cash…. You possibly can donate it and make it again inside a yr,” one other consumer commented, with a fourth writing, “You may have billions. You may donate $100 million and nonetheless be as rich as earlier than donating. YOU give the cash.”
Winfrey Defends Herself
Winfrey went on “CBS Mornings” on Tuesday to defend herself whereas selling her new e book “Build the Life You Want: The Art and Science of Getting Happier.” When requested in regards to the backlash that she and Johnson had been hit with, Winfrey admitted that it shocked her.
“Properly, this can be a actually nice level about being happier within the midst of an onslaught of being terrorized and vilified on-line,” Winfrey mentioned. “I’ll say this. I got here out of this expertise with a lot extra compassion for younger youngsters, as a result of I used to be considering, what if I didn’t actually know who I’m? It should take you out.”
“So the entire on-line assaults, lies, conspiracy theories, actually took the main focus off of what was a very powerful factor, which is the individuals of Maui,” she continued. “So this concept took place as a result of I used to be on the bottom, speaking to a lot of individuals, attempting to determine how I can finest assist.”
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Winfrey defined that the son of CBS host Gayle King despatched her an article in regards to the fund that the nation music legend Dolly Parton began to assist victims of the 2017 fires in Gatlinburg, Tennessee.
“I believed, ‘Whoa! That’s the thought. Getting the cash into the arms, immediately into the arms of the individuals – arrange the tip construction for that,’” Winfrey recalled. “We thought, as a result of each of us have given to charities our complete lives, that beginning the fund with $10 million can be an important concept. We’ll do what Dolly did, get different individuals to present cash after which we’ll put it immediately into individuals’s financial institution accounts.”
not oprah attempting to defend herself by dragging dolly parton into it she must shut up
— ren ミ☆ zara day (@mandorens) September 12, 2023
Associated: Oprah Blasted As A ‘Fraud’ For Decrying ‘White Privilege’ Despite Being A Billionaire Herself
Winfrey Shocked By Backlash
Winfrey, who owns no less than 13 properties on the Hawaiian islands, by no means noticed the potential backlash coming.
“I used to be so excited. I used to be so enthusiastic about it, after which I bought up the subsequent morning, and I noticed all of this vitriol, and I used to be, like, ‘Whoa, what occurred right here?’” she lamented. “That is what I wish to say. I wish to say that, at first, so many individuals have been calling, asking, ‘The place can we give our cash to?’ So I believed, I’m going to present individuals a spot to present it.”
“We’re going to create one thing and I nonetheless suppose it’s a very sturdy concept,” she continued. “Dolly Parton was proper. Placing cash immediately within the arms of the individuals is a big factor, and the mannequin that has been created, I’ll say that as of immediately, 2,200 individuals have been cleared and verified, and people individuals are gonna get a discover from the Folks’s Fund of Maui and are gonna have the cash put into their account.”
As for the hate that she’s obtained, Winfrey mentioned that it made her “unhappy that we’re on this state in our nation.”
Take a look at Winfrey’s full feedback on this within the video beneath, with the related portion beginning at across the 6:10 mark.
Sadly for Winfrey, this complete state of affairs reveals how out of contact she is with actuality as a longtime member of the rich liberal elite. She will be able to attempt to be like Dolly Parton all that she needs to, however ultimately, she will’t maintain a candle to the nation music legend.
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