Sunny Hostin Takes Heat For Partnering With AI Company on Film Adaptation of Her Novels

Sunny Hostin is doubling down on her decision to partner with an artificial intelligence company. Now, she’s facing backlash from colleagues and creatives who argue her use of AI will have negative implications for the entertainment industry.

Late last month, Variety reported that “The View” co-host licensed her name and likeness to the filmmaking AI startup Fountain 0 for use in the company’s film adaptations of her Summer Beach book series. According to the agreement, AI-generated images of Hostin could appear in the films, though she will have control over how they are used.

Hostin has been optimistic about the partnership, telling Variety in a statement that AI productions “enable writers and directors to have their imaginations unleashed and no longer be tethered to budgetary constraints.” She hopes AI-made films will “pioneer a new art form which can open up new dimensions for how public personalities can engage with audiences.”

In remarks on “The View” this past week, Hostin defended her choice to use AI to produce diverse stories that are often sidelined in Hollywood.

“I’ve written a trilogy, and for six years, I’ve tried to get my films, or my stories, made into series and films. And the gatekeeping in Hollywood around Black and Brown creative content is insane,” she said. “I cannot get New York Times bestselling books onto the screen to tell diverse stories to diverse communities.”

When co-host Joy Behar asked how AI factors in, Hostin replied that it would cut out the gatekeeping: “It’s a way, I think, to get Black and Brown stories told,” she said.

Her co-hosts and commenters online were not convinced.

Behar suggested that Hostin “needs the project,” because producing movies with AI does nothing to help Black and Brown filmmakers who are out of work.

Some viewers accused the author of “selling out” and looking to turn a profit instead of investing more time to get studio backing or her own money to hire human producers and performers.

“So you couldn’t get a lifetime or Tubi deal?” wrote one commenter on TikTok.

They pointed to Black creatives like Tyler Perry, Shonda Rhimes and Spike Lee, who found success telling diverse stories “the right way,” as one commenter put it.

“The problem with Hollywood gatekeeping is not that human beings are too expensive. The problem is who gets trusted with money, whose stories are considered universal and who gets allowed to try and fail again,” TV writer and content creator Tessa Scott said in a TikTok video. “AI does not fix that discrimination. It just gives the people holding the money a cheaper way to avoid hiring us altogether.”

Other commenters defended her decision, suggesting that by establishing her presence, she can make space for other creatives.

“I understand her frustration. She may not have the time or finance to fund a film on the level necessary if done the traditional way. I believe she’s doing it to get her foot in the door, later she would use actors,” wrote someone else on TikTok.

Hostin’s Summer Beach series consists of three novels that take place in historically Black beach communities: “Summer on the Bluffs” (2020) in Martha’s Vineyard, “Summer on Sag Harbor” (2023) in the Hamptons and “Summer on Highland Beach” (2024) along Chesapeake Bay.

She came up with the idea for the series on her way to cover the Trayvon Martin trial, she said during a panel last year. While at the airport, she longed for an escapist book with a main character who looked like her.