Sunny Hostin Offers a Bizarre Theory: Singers Who Lose Weight 'Lose Their Voice'

Sunny Hostin is typically the most well-spoken of The View's co-hosts, but on Wednesday morning, she put her foot in her mouth when she said that singers who lose weight "sometimes lose their voice," as they no longer have as "robust" of a sound. The co-hosts spent much of the segment staring blankly at Hostin as she prattled on, though Whoopi did intervene at one point to say that the theory is patently untrue. "When opera singers lose weight, they don't lose their ability to sing," said Whoopi.

Hostin's bizarre monologue came during a Hot Topic segment about Rebel Wilson, who recently told BBC News that her management team was unsupportive of her decision to lose weight, as she "was earning millions of dollars being the funny fat girl." Immediately after the clip ended, Hostin said that she was "surprised" to hear Wilson's story, as she "never connect[s] weight with funny." She went on to ask "why would her team do that," and the panel's resident comedian, Joy Behar, was more than happy to chime in with an answer. "A lot of times, people accept you as a heavy-duty person that's funny. Now you lose weight, and it's like, 'Who is that now?'" she said. "It's a disappointment, I guess, more."

After Sara Haines confused Jonah Hill and Seth Rogen (this was a very odd segment), Hostin suggested that she applies a different standard to singers than she does comedians. "I do think, sometimes, when there's a singer that loses weight, sometimes they lose their voice," she said.

"That is not true," replied Whoopi from across the table. "I don't know," said Hostin. "Adele hasn't, but sometimes it can happen." As Whoopi lectured her on the "other factors" that can lead to a change in voice, Hostin turned to the crowd for backup. "Nobody agrees with me?" she asked, as the studio audience laughed uncomfortably off-screen.

"I'm sorry, you're going to take her word for it?" asked Whoopi. "You're wrong, and let me explain why. Sometimes, people are asked to lose weight because they have nodes ... people lose their voice for many reasons. It is never, as far as I've been around for 100,000 years — maybe 10 years less than my friend Joy —"

With Whoopi not budging, Hostin looked to Behar, who agreed that people don't "lose weight in their lungs," and it therefore shouldn't affect someone's voice. The ladies began to talk over each other, but Hostin's voice rose above the fray: "A lot of fat singers are robust," she said.

"What?! Oh my gosh," said Whoopi, as she shot the audience an "are you hearing this?" look. But rather than engage, she decided to cut things off right there, saying, "You know what? We're going to break."

Claire Spellberg Lustig is the Senior Editor at Primetimer and a scholar of The View. Follow her on Twitter at @c_spellberg.