Fans Are Calling for Sunny Hostin to Be Removed from ‘The View’ After Her Comments About the Cornell Lawsuit
· Thought Catalog
Updated 36 minutes ago, October 2, 2026
A former sex crimes prosecutor is now at the center of a backlash over how she talked about one of the most closely watched assault cases in the country. Before becoming a co-host on The View, Sunny Hostin spent 10 years prosecuting sex crimes in New York.
During the show’s September 29 discussion, Hostin questioned the case against 7 Chi Phi fraternity members, saying the Cornell student’s original statement wouldn’t support a prosecution. The remarks have prompted calls for her removal from the panel.
The student, identified as Jane Doe, filed a lawsuit on September 16 alleging that the men drugged and sexually assaulted her in October 2024. The complaint also alleges that a member posted a Snapchat message to the fraternity group saying there was “free p***y” upstairs. None of the 7 has been criminally charged.
On air, Hostin said she’d read Doe’s 9-page statement from 2024. According to TMZ’s account of the broadcast, she described that statement as recounting voluntary drinking, ketamine use and consensual sexual activity, including 2 threesomes. She said 3 of the accused men allegedly didn’t touch Doe and another told people to leave the room.
Hostin argued that, under New York law, voluntary intoxication alone doesn’t automatically eliminate the ability to consent. She said she believes women, while maintaining that the original statement differed from the allegations in the lawsuit.
Critics say Hostin went beyond explaining the law by treating differences between Doe’s earlier account and later allegations as grounds to question her claims. They argue that consent to a threesome doesn’t establish consent to every act that followed. Hostin also said that “their pictures (Cornell rapists) are being plastered everywhere without the full story,” a framing critics say used legal analysis to validate victim-blaming.
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The legal picture has shifted in recent weeks. Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten announced on September 28 that he’d reopen the investigation and present the case to a grand jury. He described the sexual contact and drug use in Doe’s original sworn statement as “voluntary, conscious, and consensual,” saying it contained no allegation that she’d been drugged against her will or gang-raped.
Doe’s attorney, Thomas Giuffra, disputes that characterization. He says the original police report and civil complaint weren’t materially different, and that authorities received a screenshot of the group chat in 2024. For nearly 2 years, neither Doe nor her lawyers contacted his office, Van Houten says, and he says his office never received it.
The Chi Phi chapter has been closed by Cornell. The separate Title IX process led to 2 expulsions and 2 suspensions, university president Michael Kotlikoff told student government, according to CBS News. He said 1 man had already graduated and 2 were found not responsible for sexual misconduct.
The case has drawn commentary from well beyond the panel. Mariska Hargitay and Hudson Williams have also publicly criticized the accused men.
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