Multiple Facebook posts sharing the claim read: “Oprah Winfrey Decides to End Legendary Show, Plans to Move to Italy: ‘I CAN’T LIVE IN THE US FOR THE NEXT 4 YEARS AND BREATH THE SAME AIR AS ELON MUSK.'”

(Facebook user Camille Winbush)

There was no evidence Winfrey ever made such a statement or revealed any plans that she was moving to Italy because of Musk. As such, we rated this claim false.

We reached out to Winfrey for comment and will update this post if we learn more.

We ran a Google search for the terms “Oprah Winfrey,” “Elon Musk” and “Italy” and found no legitimate media reporting or statements from Winfrey directly confirming the claim. If the claim were true, it would have been headline news. Winfrey’s social media posts also offered no evidence that she was planning to leave the U.S.

Furthermore, Winfrey’s popular daytime talk show “The Oprah Winfrey Show” concluded in 2011, after running for 25 years. She has continued conducting interviews, featuring some on her YouTube channel, and has spearheaded multiple television shows including “Oprah Prime” and “Oprah’s Book Club.”

Some of the Facebook pages that shared the claim had a history of spreading fake news and artificial intelligence-generated images. One page, for example, shared a post claiming that a show hosted by conservative media personality Tucker Carlson would replace comedian Jimmy Kimmel’s show on the ABC channel. Another page shared a post falsely claiming country singer Jason Aldean sued talk show host Whoopi Goldberg for $100 billion.

The fact-checking outlet Lead Stories also looked into the claim about Winfrey moving to Italy, tracing it to an article on the website Batmalite Media. That website, according to Lead Stories, appeared to be a “content farm or spam network,” and the text of the article showed signs of being the product of artificial intelligence software.

Snopes previously covered a similar unfounded claim in November 2024 that Winfrey fled the U.S. after “damning” footage involving rapper Sean “Diddy” Combs leaked.