A rumor that the FBI launched an investigation into entertainment icon Oprah Winfrey, purportedly for a "land grab" following the August 2023 Maui wildfires, circulated online in May 2025.
Since at least March, numerous users shared and discussed this rumor on AmericasBestPics.com (archived), Facebook (archived), Instagram (archived), TikTok (archived) and X (archived). The posts shared either a meme or text reading, "The FBI is Investigating Oprah Winfrey's Land Grab in Maui. 'She now owns more than half the island. Something is fishy.'"
(@katee_K1/X)
Some readers seemed to interpret the rumor as a factual recounting of real-life events. While Winfrey does own property on Maui, there was no evidence of the FBI investigating her for seizing land on Maui.
Rather, the rumor about the FBI investigating Winfrey originated America's Last Line of Defense (ALLOD) — a network of Facebook pages and websites describing their output as being humorous or satirical in nature. For example, the bio for the ALLOD Facebook page reads, "The flagship of the ALLOD network of trollery and propaganda for cash. Nothing on this page is real." Further, the meme users shared displayed a small rating label showing an "S" for "satire."
The rumor reemerged on May 21, after a manager of the ALLOD Facebook page reposted the same meme in video form as a reel. The brief clip displayed the added words, "Oprah Winfrey should be in jail." By the following day, the reel had received over 9,500 likes, 1,400 comments and 4,600 shares. Another post featuring the same rumor in text form appeared in March on the ALLOD-owned page named America - Love It Or Leave It.
(America's Last Line of Defense/Facebook)
According to a reverse-image search, the aerial photo displayed in the meme showed a view of destroyed homes in Lahaina from the 2023 wildfires. The Getty Images media-licensing website hosts the same picture.
Snopes has addressed similar claims about Winfrey promoted by ALLOD in the past, including the assertion that she sought to buy up tens of thousands of damaged properties in hurricane-affected areas, as well as a rumor that a supposed charity Winfrey owned called Coats for Kids took in over $140 million but only bought 310 jackets with the money. Another fact check examined a false rumor about wildfire relief involving country star Dolly Parton, Winfrey and actor Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson.
For background, here is why we alert readers to rumors created by sources calling their output humorous or satirical.