Paris Hilton is being slammed for taking a vacation on Maui in the wake of devastating wildfires that swept through the Hawaiian island last week, destroying the town of Lahaina and killing almost 100 people.
Hilton and family were seen at Maui’s Wailea resort on Saturday, days after Hawaii Gov. Josh Green (D) asked travelers to stay home to preserve resources like food, water and shelter for victims of the disaster.
Photographs published by the Daily Mail showed the hotel heiress, husband Carter Reum and 7-month-old son Phoenix at a beach less than 30 miles from Lahaina, where most of Maui’s 99 confirmed deaths occurred.
Critics turned to the internet to call Hilton insensitive and out-of-touch.
“Vacationing in Maui. Cringe,” one person commented on a June Instagram photo of Hilton.
“A perfect example of the juxtaposition between the wildfire devastated part of Hawaii and the tourist part of Hawaii; the locals and the tourists,” another person posted on X, formerly Twitter.
Someone else compared Hilton to Hawaii native Jason Momoa, who told people Maui is now “not the place to vacation” in an Instagram post on Saturday.
“Jason Momoa: Stay away from Hawaii let us rebuild ourselves,” the person posted. “Paris Hilton: We will take your beaches and build more Hilton mega resorts.”
While the socialite ignored the warnings, the Hawaii Tourism Authority said visitors have “largely heeded the call” to avoid Maui.
About 46,000 residents and visitors have left via West Maui’s Kahului Airport since the fires, the authority told The Associated Press.
“In the weeks ahead, the collective resources and attention of the federal, state and county government, the West Maui community, and the travel industry must be focused on the recovery of residents who were forced to evacuate their homes and businesses,” the tourism authority said in a statement on Saturday.
The authority also warned tourists about dangerous air quality, and said hotels and resorts in West Maui have temporarily stopped booking future reservations “until the situation stabilizes.”
Over 4,500 Hawaiians are said to have been displaced by the fires, the deadliest in the U.S. in over a century, according to the National Fire Protection Association.
The governor told CNN on Monday that search teams had only examined about 25% of the affected area and that the death toll could double in the days ahead.
“It is a tragedy beyond tragedies,” Green said.