NewsBusters got under the skin of ABC’s The View when we did our first study counting their infamous “legal notes” (three dozen in one year), back in 2022. Over time, the study appeared to be so effective that the show had completely abandoned the practice. In 2025, The View had issued ZERO “legal notes.” But that doesn’t mean the notes weren’t sorely needed.
Previously, The View cast were forced to issue “legal notes” when they would accuse someone of committing crimes before either they were found guilty or before they were even charged; many times baselessly accusing a conservative of a crime without even a hint of illegality. All designed to protect ABC News from legal liability from the wild claimed their news program would make.
Their favorite target to attack in 2022 was Ginni Thomas, the wife of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. They had to issue a total of five “legal notes” regarding their comments against her (the most for any single person). After repeatedly pushing the same false accusation that she was at the head of the mob that stormed the Capitol on January 6, Hosting would robotically repeat the same lines:
Ginni Thomas has denied any conflict of interest between her activism and her husband's position on the Supreme Court. She acknowledges attending the stop-the-steal rally, but says she left because it was cold, and denies she was involved in organizing it.
In 2025, multiple members of The View’s cast had alluded and openly claimed three time that President Trump and Elon Musk stole the 2024 presidential election. You can read about those here, here (this one includes an accusation of Musk killing 300,000 kids), and here.
Sunny Host insisted that Trump was “certainly” is “guilty of insider trading” for sending out a social media post touting the stock market. You can read about that here.
The View also accused the Trump administration of “crimes against humanity” and threatening to kill the families of Republican lawmakers to coerce them into going along with his agenda. And before recovery was even finished, they accused Trump and his voters of being responsible for the deadly mid-air collision of an Army Blackhawk and a commercial airliner just outside Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.
They seemed to be aware that their accusations came with possible legal ramifications, because when co-host Joy Behar accused Musk of being “pro-apartheid” in February, they returned from a commercial break with Behar walking it back and begging Musk not to sue her. However, no formal “legal note” was issued.
And that was how they seemed to get around issuing formal “legal notes.” They would either walk it back after a commercial, or simply say “I have a note” and treat it like they were adding a clarification.
Their newfound aversion to “legal notes” was a major shift for the show and for the network because they had been so proud of them in the past. “But I think that's why people like our show, because they know that we are checked by ABC News...If we're wrong, we have the legal note here,” Behar quipped as she pointed to Hostin on November 21, 2024.
On an episode of their Behind the Table podcast, Hostin curiously described “legal notes” as a “necessary evil.” Did they finally cast off the “evil” that’s been haunting them? So, it appears.
