What is Sunny Hostin's real name? Ethnicity explored amid Nikki Haley racist controversy

American television host Sunny Hostin was slammed by South Carolina politician Nikki Haley for being "racist" about the latter's name.

On the September 20 episode of The View, the host made some controversial comments about Haley. This was during a discussion about potential presidential candidates against current US President Joe Biden in the 2024 elections.

Alyssa Farah Griffin called Nikki Haley a possible contender for the position, adding that she has been an "incredibly effective governor in South Carolina," after Hostin dubbed her a "chameleon.''

Hostin continued to take a dig at Haley and asked her what her real name was. The host, whose real name is Asunción Cummings, seemingly insinuated that the former UN ambassador hid her real name in order to win Republican votes.

After Griffin noted that a lot of people in the United States don't use their real names or the ones that are assigned to them at birth, Hostin responded:

"I think if she leaned into being someone of color, this would be different. There's some of us that can be chameleons and decide not to embrace our ethnicity so that we can pass, that we don’t have to go by—"

Soon after Hostin's comments went viral, Nikki Haley took to her Twitter handle to clap back at Sunny Hostin and call her "racist."

Nikki Haley's real name is Nimrata Nikki Randhawa Haley. She was born on January 20, 1972 in South Carolina to Indian Punjabi Sikh parents Ajit Singh Randhawa and Raj Kaur Randhawa. Nikki married Michael Haley in 1996.

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All you need to know about Sunny Hostin

Born on October 20, 1968, Sunny Hostin's birth name is Asunción Cummings. She is the daughter of William Cummings, an African-American, and Rosa Beza, a Puerto Rican woman.

Hostin was raised in New York City and studied at an all-girls school, Dominican Academy. She then enrolled at Binghamton University and graduated with a degree in communications.

According to USA Today, Sunny Hostin decided to change her name on the advice of former Court TV host Nancy Grace. Grace reportedly wasn't able to pronounce Hostin's name and claimed that no one would remember her. This led to Hostin changing her name, a decision she says she regrets as it doesn't mirror her Latino heritage.

She said:

“I wish I could take back that decision. Had I not changed it, perhaps people would identify me as being Afro Latina more. It’s such a big part of who I am. My family doesn’t call me Sunny; they don’t like it. My grandmother in particular was very upset about it.”

During her recent appearance on The View, her co-host Sara Haines pointed to the fact that Sunny also did not use her real name after the latter criticized Nikki Haley for doing the same.

She defended herself by saying:

"Most Americans can't pronounce Asunción because of the under-education in our country. But sometimes I would say, what Alyssa's saying, people gravitate to different names for different reasons."

As of now, Sunny Hostin has not responded to Nikki Haley's tweet.