Sunny Hostin Cornell 7 Backlash: Cynthia Erivo Called With Concerns

“The View” co-host Sunny Hostin revealed on the show’s “Behind the Table” podcast (via Entertainment Weekly) that Cynthia Erivo called her with concerns over Hostin’s viral segment discussing the Cornell 7 sexual assault case. The “Wicked” Oscar nominee explained to Hostin why she was getting backlash for her remarks.

Hostin was accused of defending the seven accused men at the center of the case when she told viewers last week that “it’s important to understand why the DA did not bring a case” against them in 2024. She proceeded to explain the law without acknowledging at first that she disagreed with it, thus leading to outrage online.

“She allowed other boys and consented to other boys snorting ketamine off of her body, and under New York law, voluntary intoxication or drug use that merely impairs judgment does not legally constitute an inability to consent to sexual activity,” Hostin said last week, in her legal opinion, about the accuser, a woman who is going by Jane Doe. “That means if you voluntarily ingest drugs, voluntarily take alcohol, you can agree to have threesomes — which, in her statement, she agreed to have two separate threesomes.”

Hostin admitted on the “Behind the Table” podcast that she “led with the law” while discussing the Cornell 7 case on “The View” because “everyone else had spoken emotionally about it,” adding: “I needed, I felt, to bring us back to this New York law, which is really terrible and needs to be changed.”

The host soon got a call from Cynthia Erivo, who was in Paris working on a new project. “She called me and said, ‘Sis, I know you and I know your heart and your life’s work has been about protecting women and children. But, the clip that I saw doesn’t reflect who you are,’” Hostin said of Erivo’s message. “She then said, ‘I’m a blunt person and you are a blunt person.’ That’s why we get along so well, because we get the BS out when we talk to each other. She said she’s had to learn to give people her opinion in a way that they can receive it rather than just be blunt.”

Hostin said Erivo shared the following advice: “Instead of leading with the law, I need to lead with empathy so that people can receive the message about the law. That’s why the next time we talked about it, I led with that so that people would be able to receive the facts that, in New York, if you’re voluntarily intoxicated you’d have to be completely passed out, affirmatively say no, or you would have to be drugged involuntarily to prove sexual assault.”

“I was accused of defending these young men, and victim-shaming, which is something I would never do since I spent the majority of my career prosecuting sex crimes,” Hostin added. “So, I was kind of fascinated by the way people received the information that I gave, which was ultimately the law in New York must be changed because the bar is so very high. In New York, once someone is voluntarily intoxicated, to prove sexual assault. It’s already beyond a reasonable doubt, and then you add that on to it, the burden becomes so high. It’s almost impossible to prove sexual assault.”

The Cornell 7 is the name given online to the seven male students accused of drugging and gang raping their female classmate (Jane Doe) at Cornell University in October 2024. The woman is now suing her alleged assaulters as well as their fraternity, Cornell University, her former sorority and more. According to the woman’s attorney, Cornell’s original investigation into the alleged crime resulted in only two of the accused men being expelled. The other students received lesser sanctions, such as temporary suspensions, workshops or essay-writing assignments.

The case has earned widespread attention in Hollywood. Florence Pugh went viral on Instagram for urging men to speak out and to be “leading conversations about how we change the allowance and complicity of this behavior… This is really the moment where we need our men to be as horrified and as sickened as us.”

After Pugh’s post, several other celebrities such as Mariska Hargitay, Josh Gad, Hudson Williams and more used social media to also condemn the Cornell 7. “Arrest them,” wrote “Heated Rivalry” star Williams on his Instagram story while sharing a photo of the seven accused men. “Fuck them and fuck Cornell, too!”