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Sunny Hostin slammed for saying Kanye should not be cancelled due to mental health issues

'The View' discussed the Grammys decision to drop Kanye West from the performance line-up due to his concerning online behavior

'The View' co-host Sunny Hostin defended Kanye West after the rapper was excluded from the Grammys over his "concerning online behavior" amid ongoing divorce with reality star Kim Kardashian. Prior to the Grammy Awards ban, Kanye was also hit with a 24-hour suspension from Instagram after he used racial slurs in a post-berating 'The Daily Show' host Trevor Noah. 

During Monday, March 21, broadcast, 'The View' discussed the Grammys' decision to drop Kanye from the performance line-up due to his concerning online behavior. Hostin said that Kanye, who is up for at least five Grammy awards this season, was being "stigmatized" due to his mental health and that Grammys shouldn't have removed the rapper from the lineup lest they stifle his creative speech. "Performance is an art, and it's speech in many instances," Hostin said. "Where do we draw the line? I believe in consequence culture, I don’t believe in cancel culture. And I feel that he is, because of the stigma of mental health, I think he is being stigmatized."

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Hostin continued, "And bottom line is, people that are mentally ill — he’s been diagnosed with bipolar disorder — are much less likely to commit violence than have violence enacted upon them. I don’t know yet that he is this violent person that should be shunned from society, and his art taken away from him." She further added, "We have something called the First Amendment in this country. We have freedom of speech. We have freedom of expression, and we're canceling Kanye West for something he may do."

'The View' co-host Ana Navarro, however, disagreed with Hostin and argued that West is "not entitled to put people's lives in danger" just because he is a celebrity or because he has been diagnosed with a mental illness. Ana also pointed out that she fully supported Instagram's suspension and said that she believed West was guilty of "inciting violence" and using "horrible racial slurs" on the social networking site. She added, "Do we all need to put up with this?."

Meanwhile, social media users disagreed with Hostin claims that Kanye's ban from the Grammy is unjust. One said, "I so agree with Ana (my friend in my head). This is serious, it's not the 1st time, and even if Kanye is not violent, he has introduced violence... Remember Trump and Jan 6th... I love you Sonny, but I think you're wrong. Allowing him to perform enables his continued Bad Behavior." A second wrote, "Good! Time after time Kanye has gone off at the Grammys! He shouldn't be allowed to attend at all! If you're paying attention he is dangerous & delusional."

A third added, "Now what is Sunny talking about here? He doesn’t deserve a “devils advocate” perspective." A fourth wrote, "@sunny, so bullying and harassment online is freedom of speech and there shouldn’t be any consequences because it’s an attack on kanyes first amendment is basically what you sayin." A fifth user simply tweeted, "I actually can't" with face palm sticker.