Sunday February 8, marked two years since ABC co-host Sunny Hostin announced the results of an investigation into her family history uncovered the fact she was descended from slave owners. At the time, The View co-host showed defiance to her critics by proclaiming “I still believe in reparations.” Yet, in the two years that followed her revelations, Hostin did not appear to have made an effort to find or to pay what she owed to the descendants of those her family enslaved.
“But I was reluctant to do it because I just sensed that there could be something in my family history that would be disappointing,” she explained at the time, the information having been derived from an appearance on Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates Jr.
Pulling the Band-Aid off, Hostin admitted to the revelation right way, with some light quips from co-host Joy Behar:
HOSTIN: But what I found out was that my mother's family while they are Puerto Rican, they actually originate from Spain, and the reason that they moved to Puerto Rico is because the slave trade had been sort of canceled in Spain and then Curaçao and then they moved all their slaves to Puerto Rico. So, the family business, I have been told, that they were printers and journalists but they were, in fact, enslavers. [Nervous laughter] And my mother --
BEHAR: A hush fell over the audience.
HOSTIN: -- was deeply disappointing and it's deeply disappointing...
This Sunday (February 8), marks 2 years since this Sunny Hostin announced to The View audience that - despite all the race baiting she had done on TV - she was descended from slave owners who tried to out run abolition:
— Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) February 6, 2026
HOSTIN: I was. And he gave me some surprising revelations… pic.twitter.com/41VjSUc3pO
Amid their conversation, co-host Sara Haines, who sometimes played the role of speedbump to Hostin’s racial politics, pressed her on how the discovery could change her outlook: “Sunny, how does this change you, though? You mentioned your mom was upset and this was shocking and maybe deep down, you kind of resisted it. How has this changed you knowing what you're hearing?”
Hostin reiterated that being the progeny of slave owners was “disappointing” and “a bummer,” but then lashed out at critics. “I still believe in reparations! By the way. So, y'all can stop texting me and emailing me and saying that I'm a white girl and I don't deserve reparations!” she angrily shouted. “That's a lot, so I still believe in reparations. I still believe this country has a lot to do in terms of racial justice.”
But that dedication to “racial justice” and belief in reparations seemed to only apply to what benefits she would personally receive. In the two years since the show aired, Hostin had not made any apparent effort to find the descendants of the human beings her family enslaved, let alone try to pay them reparations.
While calling the revelations a "bummer" she went on to snap at her critics and insisted "I still believe in reparations." pic.twitter.com/Pdh4mgOpI7
— Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) February 6, 2026
ABC and The View did not respond to NewsBusters’ multiple requests for comment nor any of our fair questions about Hostin’s activity over the last two years. Here are those questions:
-Has Hostin made any effort to find out who her family enslaved?
-Does she know who her family enslaved?
-If they have any, has she attempted to reach out to any of their living descendants?
-Has she offered to pay them reparations or set up any sort of fund for those descendants?
-How much is she willing to pay them in reparations?
-If she hasn't done any of these things, why not?
Over the years, Hostin had insisted that she personally deserved to receive reparations from both the U.S. and U.K. (despite being a multimillionaire TV co-host).
Therefore, it appeared as though Hostin’s true belief was ‘reparations for me, but not for thee,’ especially from her own pocket.
