Asunción "Sunny" Cummings Hostin (; Cummings; born October 20, 1968) is an American lawyer, author, and television host. She is a co-host on ABC's morning talk show '' The View'', for which she received nominations for

Daytime Emmy Awards The Daytime Emmy Awards, or Daytime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the New York-based National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NA ...

, as well as the Senior Legal Correspondent and Analyst for

ABC News ABC News most commonly refers to: * ABC News (Australia), a national news service of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation * ABC News (United States), a news-gathering and broadcasting division of the American Broadcasting Company ABC News may a ...

. She was also the host and executive producer of

Investigation Discovery Investigation Discovery (stylized and branded on-air as ID since 2008) is an American multinational pay television network dedicated to true crime documentaries, similar to corporate sibling HLN. It is owned by Warner Bros. Discovery's netw ...

's true crime series ''Truth About Murder with Sunny Hostin''.

Early life

Hostin was born on October 20, 1968, in New York City to a Puerto Rican mother, Rosa Beza, and an American father, William Cummings. Her maternal grandfather was a

Sephardic Jew Sephardic Jews, also known as Sephardi Jews or Sephardim, and rarely as Iberian Peninsular Jews, are a Jewish diaspora population associated with the historic Jewish communities of the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal) and their descendant ...

. On the

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

program ''

Finding Your Roots ''Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr.'' is an American documentary television series hosted by Henry Louis Gates Jr. that premiered on March 25, 2012, on PBS. In each episode, celebrities are presented with a "book of life" that is com ...

'', Hostin learned that she has a large amount of Spanish ancestry and that she is a descendant of Spanish colonizers, with her fourth great-grandfather being a trader of slaves. Hostin was raised in

The Bronx The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...

, New York City, attended the all-girls Dominican Academy, and is bilingual in English and Spanish. She received a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

in English and Rhetoric from

Binghamton University The State University of New York at Binghamton (Binghamton University or SUNY Binghamton) is a public university, public research university in Binghamton metropolitan area, Greater Binghamton, New York, United States. It is one of the four uni ...

and a

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

from

Notre Dame Law School Notre Dame Law School is the law school of the University of Notre Dame. Established in 1869, it is the oldest continuously operating Catholic law school in the United States. The school enrolls about 600 students and in addition to the J.D. ...

Career

Hostin began her career as a law clerk to retired Chief Judge of the

Maryland Court of Appeals The Supreme Court of Maryland (previously the Maryland Court of Appeals) is the highest court of the U.S. state of Maryland. The court, which is composed of one chief justice and six associate justices, meets in the Robert C. Murphy Courts of ...

Robert M. Bell and later became a trial attorney in the

United States Department of Justice Antitrust Division The United States Department of Justice Antitrust Division is a division of the U.S. Department of Justice that enforces U.S. antitrust law. It has exclusive jurisdiction over federal criminal antitrust prosecutions, and it shares jurisdict ...

. Hostin left the Antitrust Division to become a federal prosecutor, specializing in child sex crimes. She began her television career as a commentator for

Court TV Court TV is an American digital broadcast network and former pay-television channel. It was originally launched in 1991 with a focus on crime-themed programs such as true crime documentary series, legal analysis talk shows, and live news cover ...

and began using the

stage name A stage name or professional name is a pseudonym used by performers, authors, and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. The equivalent concept among writers is called a ''nom de plume'' (pen name). Some performers ...

"Sunny Hostin" after host

Nancy Grace Nancy Ann Grace (born October 23, 1959) is an American legal pundit, commentator and television journalist. She hosted ''Nancy Grace (TV program), Nancy Grace'', a nightly celebrity news and current affairs (news format), current affairs show ...

was unable to pronounce "Asunción" and asked if she had a nickname she could use instead. Hostin was then offered a spot on the

Fox News The Fox News Channel (FNC), commonly known as Fox News, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conservatism in the United States, conservative List of news television channels, news and political commentary Television stati ...

program ''

The O'Reilly Factor ''The O'Reilly Factor'' (originally titled ''The O'Reilly Report'' and also known as ''The Factor'') is an American cable television news and talk show. ''The O'Reilly Factor'' first aired in the United States on Fox News Channel on October 7 ...

'', where she appeared on the show's "Is It Legal?" segments, regularly debating with Bill O'Reilly and

Megyn Kelly Megyn Marie Kelly (; born November 18, 1970) is an American journalist, attorney, political commentator, and media personality. She currently hosts ''The Megyn Kelly Show'', a talk show and podcast that airs daily on Sirius XM's Triumph channe ...

. She signed with

CNN Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...

in September 2007 as the legal analyst for its morning show '' American Morning''. In March 2016, it was announced that Hostin was joining

as Senior Legal Correspondent and analyst. She became a permanent co-host of ''The View'' beginning the show's twentieth season in September 2016. In 2017, Hostin made a

cameo appearance A cameo appearance, also called a cameo role and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief guest appearance of a well-known person or character in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking on ...

as herself in the comedy film ''

Girls Trip ''Girls Trip'' is a 2017 American comedy film starring Regina Hall, Tiffany Haddish, Jada Pinkett Smith and Queen Latifah. The film is directed by Malcolm D. Lee and written by Kenya Barris and Tracy Oliver, from a story by the pair and E ...

''. In 2019, Hostin hosted and executive-produced the six-episode documentary series ''Truth About Murder With Sunny Hostin'' on

, on which she travels to various parts of the US to explore the stories behind some of the nation's most notorious homicides. She also hosted a podcast titled ''Have You Seen This Man?'', produced by ABC. Hostin released ''I Am These Truths'', a memoir, in 2020. The following year, she released a novel, titled ''Summer on the Bluffs''. The book was to be adapted into a television series. Hostin is also set to executive-produce ''The Counsel'', a drama television series inspired by her life and career.

Views

In a discussion on ''The View'', Hostin said that Latino voters who did not support Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election did so out of sexism and misogyny. In another discussion on ''The View'', she also claimed that "uneducated white women" were to blame for

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

's victory in the 2024 election. In another discussion on ''The View'', Hostin claimed that Patrick Mahomes' wife,

Brittany Brittany ( ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the north-west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica in Roman Gaul. It became an Kingdom of Brittany, independent kingdom and then a Duch ...

, should have known that it was "problematic" to support "a racist" for president, given that she is in an interracial marriage. Additionally, Hostin has repeatedly claimed that Trump won the 2024 election due to sexism and racism and has claimed that January 6th was one of the worst moments in American history, comparing it to World War II, slavery and the Holocaust.Hostin is also well known for her criticism and disdain for President Donald J Trump.

Personal life

Hostin is a member of

Alpha Kappa Alpha Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. () is an List of African American fraternities, historically African-American Fraternities and sororities, sorority. The sorority was founded in 1908 at Howard University in Washington, D.C.. Alpha Kappa Alpha ...

. She is married to

orthopedic surgeon Orthopedic surgery or orthopedics (American and British English spelling differences, alternative spelling orthopaedics) is the branch of surgery concerned with conditions involving the musculoskeletal system. Orthopedic surgeons use both surgic ...

Emmanuel Hostin. In January 2025, he was among 199 defendants accused of

insurance fraud Insurance fraud is any intentional act committed to deceive or mislead an insurance company during the application or claims process, or the wrongful denial of a legitimate claim by an insurance company. It occurs when a claimant knowingly attem ...

in a civil lawsuit filed under the

Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act is a United States federal law that provides for extended criminal penalties and a civil cause of action for acts performed as part of an ongoing criminal organization. RICO was e ...

(RICO) in New York. They have two children, a boy and a girl. The family resides in

Purchase, New York Purchase is a hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set ...

. Hostin is

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hostin, Sunny 1968 births Living people 20th-century African-American lawyers 20th-century African-American women 20th-century African-American women writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century American women journalists 20th-century American women lawyers 20th-century Puerto Rican lawyers 20th-century Roman Catholics 21st-century African-American lawyers 21st-century African-American women 21st-century African-American women writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American women journalists 21st-century American women lawyers 21st-century Puerto Rican women lawyers 21st-century Roman Catholics African-American Catholics African-American non-fiction writers African-American television personalities African-American television talk show hosts African-American women journalists American people of Puerto Rican descent American people of Sephardic-Jewish descent American Roman Catholic writers American television journalists American television talk show hosts American women columnists American women non-fiction writers American women television journalists Assistant United States attorneys Binghamton University alumni Catholics from New York (state) CNN people Fox News people Journalists from New York City New York (state) lawyers Notre Dame Law School alumni People associated with true crime People from the Bronx People from Purchase, New York Puerto Rican television talk show hosts University of Notre Dame alumni