The talk show host argues generative AI can help get Black and Brown stories to screen after years of being shut out by traditional studios.
Sunny Hostin is standing by her decision to license her name and likeness to AI startup Fountain 0, a partnership first reported by Variety in late August, arguing the technology offers a way around what she describes as entrenched gatekeeping in Hollywood.
Hostin explained on “The View” that she turned to AI after spending six years unable to get her own trilogy of novels adapted into film or television. “The gatekeeping in Hollywood around Black and Brown creative content is insane,” she said. “I cannot get New York Times best-selling books onto the screen to tell diverse stories to diverse communities.”
She argued that AI removes the traditional barriers standing between creators and audiences. Rather than needing a studio’s approval to move forward, Hostin said creators can now produce a finished product themselves. “You get to make your film. You get to have a director,” she said. “It’s a way to go to a streamer and say, ‘Here’s the product. Will you license it? Will you show it?’ It’s a way, I think, to get Black and Brown stories told.”
When pressed by co-host Ana Navarro on whether she had any ethical reservations about licensing her likeness to an AI company, Hostin said she had thought about the decision extensively. She maintained that responsibility for the lack of diverse representation lies with the studios, not with creators turning to new tools. “That would be great if the studios would not gatekeep and allow the stories to be told,” she said.
Hostin also framed the shift as inevitable, calling AI a technology that’s here to stay. “The train has left the station,” she said. “This is something that’s here. It’s not going away, and I think that there are going to be enormous benefits.”
She closed out the discussion by describing generative AI not as a replacement for traditional storytelling but as an extension of it. “I don’t think it’s ever going to take away the arts,” Hostin said. “I think it’s a different art form.”
Her co-hosts pushed back throughout the segment. Joy Behar and Alyssa Farah Griffin both raised concerns that AI-driven productions could sideline Black and Brown actors rather than create opportunities for them, with Griffin also noting that generative AI often draws on existing actors’ work without compensating them through residuals. Hostin countered that Black and Brown actors are already largely excluded from those roles under Hollywood’s current system.
In her original statement to Variety announcing the Fountain 0 partnership, Hostin said she believes AI productions could free writers and directors from budgetary constraints while opening new ways for public figures to connect with audiences.