‘The View’ Host, Sunny Hostin, Fired Back at a Racist ABC Exec

It seems like almost every single day another racist employee, figurehead, celebrity, or internet personality is brought to light, and rightfully asked to explain their actions. 

Recently, The View had a lot to discuss in regards to an ABC News executive, Barbara Fedida, who was placed on leave after The Huffington Post reported that she had a history of making racist remarks about Black employees, including The View co-host, Sunny Hostin.

While Barbara denies any of the allegations made against her, that didn’t stop Sunny and the other women on The View from talking about what happened and what it meant for ABC’s culture and The View in general.

Sunny Hostin said that the alleged ABC racism scandal made her extremely upset, particularly the Barbara Fedida comments that put a spotlight on “the type of racism that Black people deal with every single day.”

“It was a tough weekend for me and I was really disappointed and saddened and hurt when I learned about the racist comments that were made, allegedly, about me, my colleagues and my dear friends,” Sunny said.

Sunny went on to reference Huffington Post writer, Yashar Ali’s report about the culture of toxicity that Barbara Fedida had created at ABC News. 

“Because if true, to reference Robin Roberts — who is one of the most respected and beloved journalists in our country — as ‘picking cotton'; to reference me — someone who’s been very open about having grown up in public housing — as being ‘low rent'; to reference Kendis Gibson — who was my office mate at ABC and now is an MSNBC anchor — to say that he isn’t worth paying as much as ABC would pay for toilet paper; the fact that Mara Schiavocampo — who is a friend and a former colleague at ABC —the fact that she has an NDA in place and can’t talk about her experiences at ABC tells me that systemic racism touches everything and everyone in our society,” Sunny said.

Barbara Fedida has denied all allegations of racism and insensitive remarks, saying, “I am proud of my decades of work of hiring, supporting, and promoting talented journalists of color. And, unlike these heartbreaking and incredibly misleading claims about me, that track record is well-documented and undeniable.”

Despite her denials, ABC is conducting “an independent, external investigation” of the allegations, and ABC has placed Barbara Fedida on leave amid the investigation.

While Sunny expressed her deep disappointment in ABC execs, she did thank her coworkers for stepping up to support her. “Meghan [McCain] and I had, at least, an hour conversation this weekend,” she said. “Whoopi, you were so supportive. Joy, you were so supportive … And I thank you all for that.”

Meghan McCain added that The View has “zero tolerance” for racism and insensitivity. She continued, “I am disgusted by these allegations, as everyone is. There’s a lot of people that say a lot of things about these hosts and this show in the press, but when you attack one of us, you’re attacking all of us.”