‘I’m Devastated’: Sunny Hostin Melts Down Over Removal Of BLM Mural In DC

It’s a new, dimmer day for the Black Lives Matter movement in 2025, and Sunny Hostin isn’t too happy about seeing the shade.

The co-host of ABC’s “The View” broke down Thursday after lamenting the loss of a Black Lives Matter mural in Washington, D.C., erected at the height of the 2020 protests following the death of George Floyd.

“I’m saddened by it because I think that the Black Lives Matter movement has been coopted, and they’re trying to erase it,” Hostin said on an episode of “Behind the Table,” a podcast for fans of the show. “It’s probably the second most important civil rights movement in American history.”

Who “they” are remains unclear. Muriel Bowser, the city’s Democratic mayor, made the decision to paint over the large yellow letters emblazoned on the city’s main plaza for nearly five years. She acknowledged making the move after pressure from the White House.

“We have bigger fish to fry than fights over what has been very important to us and to the history, and especially in our ability to keep our city safe during that time, that mural played a very important part,” she told NBC4 Washington earlier this year. “But now our focus is on making sure our residents and our economy survives.”

Hostin made clear on Wednesday that she disagrees with Bowser.

“I’m devastated by it, because it’s the continuation of the erasure of American history,” adding that her friend Alicia Garza “wrote the letter that started the Black Lives Matter movement.”

WATCH:

Sunny Hostin says she’s sad that the Black Lives Matter plaza is being erased.

She then falsely claims that BLM is “the second most important civil rights movement in American history.”

BLM burned down cities, took countless lives, and only caused divisiveness.

Good riddance. pic.twitter.com/WP2hW0knum

— Paul A. Szypula 🇺🇸 (@Bubblebathgirl) March 12, 2025

Garza founded BLM alongside Patrisse Cullors, who came under fire in 2022 after it was reported that the nonprofit purchased a $6 million home in Los Angeles and used it for personal parties. In subsequent interviews, Cullors and her allies defended the purchase as an adequate use of donations, saying it offered them safe ground to conduct interviews and host professional gatherings.

But to Hostin, Garza is “one of our thought leaders” pushing the boundaries of discourse around the treatment of black Americans, and Bowser is the victim of “extortion” by the Trump administration.

“Let’s be clear, this was extortion: ‘take it down or lose federal funding.’ And we’re seeing that same thing at Columbia, and we’re going to continue to see that same type of extortion across the country.”

Asked if she blamed Mayor Bowser, she said simply, “No, I don’t.”

Hostin’s outburst was practically cordial compared to some of her more recent screeds against President Trump and his allies. In November, she was forced to read a “legal note” on-air after participating in a discussion that insinuated Matt Gaetz was guilty of underage prostitution. During the commercial break, producers handed her a note to explain that the Biden Justice Department declined to bring charges against the Republican former congressman and Trump nominee, citing a lack of evidence.