There was a cloudy outlook for The View host Sunny Hostin, as her husband was accused in a lawsuit of insurance fraud, which has become a “big deal” at ABC News, according to sources.
“The matter has been discussed internally,” says a source. Fox News Digital For placement on an ABC talk show. “But no one is sure what he will do.”
Orthopedic surgeon Dr. Emanuel “Manny” Hostin and his practice, Hostin Orthopedics & Sports Medicine, were named among more than 180 defendants in a major RICO case filed in New York last month.
according to Daily MailHostin and the other defendants allegedly received kickbacks for performing surgeries and fraudulently billing insurance companies that provide Uber and Lyft drivers, as well as taxi companies. The lawsuit alleges that Hostin received an “investment” interest in the Empire State Ambulatory Surgery Center while receiving a “steady stream” of patient referrals in return.
Hosten's lawyer told the Daily Mail that his client denies all of the allegations and called the suit “a sweeping, rambling and baseless lawsuit by an insurance company on the verge of bankruptcy.”
'The Show' star Sunny Houston surgeon husband accused of insurance fraud in sweeping federal lawsuit
Dr. Emanuel Hostin, husband of The View co-anchor Sunny Hostin, has been charged with insurance fraud in a wide-ranging federal lawsuit filed in New York last month. (He Depasopil/Getty)
A former ABC insider said Hostin was always the first to jump down a Republican's throat when they did anything wrong on “The View” and “now she doesn't even talk about it on the show.”
“It's very hypocritical,” they said, saying the controversy had become “a big thing on the network.” “It's death by a thousand cuts. This is just another thing to make people not trust (The View) and not take it seriously.”
As co-host of “The View” and chief legal correspondent for ABC, Hostin frequently quotes “The View.” Her background As an attorney to comment on major legal stories that have made headlines, most notably the series of criminal charges brought against President-elect Donald Trump. Hostin is known for giving satirical readings of Trump's denials of the charges when discussing them on the show.
Fox News contributor Joe Concha said, “Sunny Houston would look even more foolish when she talks about morality, ethics and the rule of law.”
Sunny Hostin, second from right, is one of many reliably liberal hosts on “The View.” (Screenshot/ABC News)
Many media experts, such as Cornell Law School professor and media critic William A. Jacobson, the legal drama rocking the Hostin family will have little impact on ABC News nor on the host's standing with “The View.”
“It would be a stretch to claim that anything he did or didn't do involved Ms. Huston, let alone her ability to offer her opinions on The View,” Jacobson told Fox News Digital.
Likewise, Jeffrey McCaul, a journalism professor at DePauw University, predicted that the scandal likely won't move the needle because ABC News will “step away” from covering the lawsuit in an ever-crowded news cycle preparing for Trump's return to the White House.
“There's a certain amount of excitement involved as Sunny is an outspoken character on a fairly noisy commentary show, but the interest factor is probably fairly low for most American news consumers,” McCall said.
ABC News did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment. A Hostin representative also did not comment.
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Media experts say the Dr. Emanuel Hostin legal scandal won't affect Sunny Hostin's standing at ABC News, but they say it could put her in an awkward position to talk about ethics and the law in the future. (Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Bezos Awards for Courage and Civility)
Disney-owned ABC is still reeling from its grief $16 million settlement with Trump After he sued the network and “This Week” host George Stephanopoulos for defamation.
Houston has remained silent about her husband's legal troubles since the lawsuit was filed in December, but that hasn't stopped her from commenting on her husband's work, as she did last month while discussing the health insurance industry in the wake of the crisis. Assassination of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
“Doctors are suffering because of big corporations too, doctors who want to do good, like my husband,” Houston said She said to her colleagues. “(He) performs surgery on someone even though they have no insurance, and then has to sue health insurance companies to get paid for the work he trained his whole life to do.”
“The Show” hosts a sunny Houston surgeon husband who faces a long-running battle in a fraud case
Additionally, comments Houston made in March 2023 about the seriousness of insurance fraud went viral this week as she discussed potential charges against former Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg, who was serving a prison sentence for tax fraud.
“The prosecutors say, ‘Oh really? Well, how about we add some additional fraud charges?” “And they're talking about him threatening insurance fraud, which I would say could get him 20 years in prison, so that's a death sentence.” He said at the time.
Legal experts tell Fox News Digital that the $459 million lawsuit involving Dr. Hostin and his co-defendants could keep them in court for years.
The lawsuit was filed under the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, or RICO, in the Eastern District of New York — a strategy that legal experts say is designed to have a chilling effect on behavior. It also risks embroiling defendants like Hostin in years of complicated court proceedings — and potentially saddled with huge payouts as a result.
American Transit alleges that Hostin and other defendants abused New York's no-fault laws to make “hundreds of millions” of dollars in fraudulent payments between 2009 and December 2024.
Fox News Digital's Brian Depesch contributed to this report.
