'She struggled, every take': 'The View' host Sunny Hostin reveals she changed her Spanish name on Nancy Grace's request

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Renowned co-host of 'The View', Sunny Hostin, recently opened up about a pivotal moment in her career that led to a significant name change.

Born Asuncion Cummings, she decided to adopt the name Sunny Hostin after fellow TV personality Nancy Grace struggled to pronounce her original name during a broadcast.

How Sunny Hostin's encounter with Nancy Grace sparked a career-altering decision

According to Deadline, Hostin, who initially brought her legal expertise to Court TV as a guest alongside Nancy Grace, recounted the moment when Grace repeatedly stumbled over the pronunciation of "Asuncion." In an appearance on PBS's 'Finding Your Roots' with host Henry Louis Gates, Jr, Hostin shared the details of the encounter.

"She struggled, every take," Hostin revealed to Gates and added, "It was just so crazy. She couldn’t get it." Following the on-air difficulties, Grace approached Hostin during a break, expressing her struggles with the name and suggesting a change. Hostin recalled Grace's words: "Do you have another name? A nickname? I don’t know."

Hostin, initially hesitant to alter her identity, mentioned that some friends in school had called her Sunny because they couldn't pronounce her given name. She explained, "I said, ‘Well, some friends in school who couldn’t pronounce my name call me Sunny. But, no one in my family calls me Sunny, I don’t use it professionally'." Despite her reservations, Hostin agreed to the change, and "the next segment, I was Sunny Hostin."

Unveiling ancestral layers

The transformation proved to be a turning point in Hostin's career. She noted that after adopting her new professional moniker, her "career took off" and "all of a sudden, people remembered who I was." The name change became a strategic move that contributed to her visibility and recognition in the media industry.

In the same episode, Hostin discovered surprising details about her Puerto Rican heritage on her mother's side. She learned that her ancestors were predominantly Spanish and had a history of slaveholding.

Reflecting on this revelation, Hostin expressed her shock, stating, "Wow, I’m a little bit in shock. I just always thought of myself as Puerto Rican, half Puerto Rican, I didn’t think my family was originally from Spain and slaveholders."

Furthermore, the episode unveiled shared roots between Hostin's husband, Manny, and the author of 'Summer on the Bluffs'. Hostin found it "pretty interesting" and appreciated the connection, acknowledging the importance of such historical information for their children. She commented, "I guess it’s a fact of life that this is how some people made their living, on the backs of others."