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“The View” co-host Sunny Hostin’s future is clouded as her husband is accused of insurance fraud in a lawsuit that has become ABC’s News (ABC News) A “big thing”.
A source said: “This has been discussed internally” fox news numbers The situation on ABC talk shows. “But no one knew what to do.”
Orthopedic surgeon Dr. Emmanuel “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 charged fraudulent fees to insurance companies that provided services to Uber and Lyft drivers and taxi companies. The lawsuit alleges that Hostin received an “investment” interest in the Empire State Ambulatory Surgery Center and received a “constant flow” of patient referrals in return.
Hostin’s lawyer told the Daily Mail that his client denies all allegations and called the lawsuit “a blanket, aimless and baseless lawsuit brought by an insurance company on the brink of bankruptcy.”
Dr. Emmanuel Hostin, the husband of “The View” co-host Sunny Hostin, was charged last month in a massive federal lawsuit filed in New York Insurance fraud. (H. Deepasupil/Getty)
A former ABC insider said Hostin was always the first to criticize Republicans when they did something wrong on “The View,” and “now she’s not even talking about it on the show.” ”.
“This is extremely hypocritical,” they said, adding that the controversy had become “a big thing online.” “It’s death by a thousand cuts. It’s just another thing that makes people distrust (views) and not take them seriously.”
As co-host of “The View” and senior legal correspondent for ABC, Hostin often quotes her background As an attorney, commentate on major legal stories that make headlines, most notably the litany of criminal charges filed against President-elect Donald Trump. Hostin is known for his sarcastic interpretations of Trump’s denials of accusations against him on the show.
Fox News contributor Joe Concha said: “Sonny Hostin only looks stupider when she talks dogmatically about ethics and the rule of law.”
Sonny Hostin (second from right) is one of several reliably liberal hosts on “The View.” (Screenshot/ABC News)
Many media experts, such as Cornell Law School professor and media critic William A. Jacobson, believe the legal drama that rocked the Hostins will not do much good for ABC News. ABC News) and the host’s status on “The View” had too much influence.
“It would be a stretch to suggest that anything he did or didn’t do had anything to do with Ms. Hostin, let alone her ability to speak out on ‘The View,'” Jacobson told Fox News Digital channel.
DePauw University journalism professor Jeffrey McCall similarly predicted the scandal likely won’t have a major impact because ABC News will “shirk” reporting on it in an ever-crowded news cycle. File lawsuit to prepare for Trump’s return to the White House.
“Sonny being an outspoken figure on a fairly raucous commentary show does have some sensationalism, but for most American news consumers the interest factor is probably pretty low,” McCall said.
ABC News did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. Representatives for Hostin also had no comment.
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Media experts say Dr. Emanuel Hostin’s legal scandal won’t affect Sonny Hostin’s standing at ABC News, but they say it could put her in an embarrassing position, unable to future ethical and legal issues. (Kevin Mazur/Getty Images Bezos Award for Courage and Civility)
Disney-owned ABC still has concerns over its $16 million settlement with Trump after he sued the network and “This Week” host George Stephanopoulos for defamation.
Hostin has remained silent on her husband’s legal issues since the lawsuit was filed in December, but that hasn’t stopped her from commenting on his work, as she did last month when discussing the health insurance industry. UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson assassinated.
“Doctors also suffer because of big corporations, and doctors like my husband want to do good,” Hostin tell her colleagues. “(He) performed surgery on people who had no insurance and then had to sue the health insurance company to get paid for the work he had been trained to do his entire life.”
‘The View’ host Sonny Hostin’s surgeon husband faces years of fraud case battle
Separately, comments Hostin made in March 2023 about the seriousness of insurance fraud went viral this week when she discussed potential charges against former Trump Organization CFO Ellen Weisselberg. The man is serving time in prison for tax fraud.
“The prosecutors are going to say, ‘Oh, really? Well, how about we add some additional fraud charges against you?’ They’re talking about threatening him with insurance fraud, and I’d say you could get 20 years in prison.” , so this is a death sentence for him.” Said at that time.
Legal experts told 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 (RICO) Act in the Eastern District of New York, a tactic that legal experts say is designed to have a chilling effect on conduct. It also risks miring defendants like Hostin in years of complex court proceedings that could leave them liable for huge damages.
American Transit accused Hostin and other defendants of abusing New York’s no-fault laws to collect “hundreds of millions of dollars” in fraudulent payments between 2009 and December 2024.
Fox News Digital’s Breanne Deppisch contributed to this report.
