Theories, conspiracy or otherwise, tend not to need factual proof in order to become a hot topic on social media. If something is controversial, especially if it includes names of respected, famous figures, it takes only a few moments for it trend. That's exactly what happened to Oprah Winfrey back in March when she found herself as the No. 1 trending topic on Twitter after allegations that she'd been arrested for sex trafficking and child pornography ran rampant.
Recently, Oprah took to her own platform, O Magazine, to address the rumors that left her stunned. She said she was in bed lost in a book when she received a call about her name going viral. "I can’t and don’t want to imagine an uglier accusation," she wrote in her article. She said when she first read it, she was confused. "But I'm in my bed in my pj's and socks, and somehow #OprahArrested is a thing. My worst fear realized. Being slandered, accused of a crime I didn’t commit."
Oprah went on to pen how the false accusations triggered reminders of the abuse she suffered as a child. "Lies are like those lashes. As a young girl, I never got angry; whippings made me sad," she added. "The same is true today. Except the sadness isn’t for myself—it’s for what I see the world becoming. How easy it is to slice, destroy, cancel someone with vitriol. How easily people swallow and spread that vitriol with gleeful memes." She continued, "To paraphrase Genesis 50:20: What man intended for evil, God intended for good."
[via]