"The View" co-host Meghan McCain got defensive after Sunny Hostin took a shot at her for pushing to discuss HBO's decision to temporarily remove "Gone With The Wind" as attitudes swiftly change about racial justice.
Hostin's dig wasn't readily apparent in real time, because her turn to speak came before McCain's, but she clearly disagreed that the movie's temporary cancellation on the streaming service was a topic worthy of discussion.
"Well, we have had this discussion many times before, and, you know, my biggest concern right now isn't the availability of 'Gone With The Wind' on HBO," Hostin said, rolling her eyes.
"The movie does in a sense, you know, glorify the Confederacy and the Antebellum South," she added, "and it doesn't provide the true horrors of slavery, and they're going to do what you suggest."
Hostin then bashed another homonymous conservative who used to work for Fox News.
"Nobody is in favor of censorship, and someone like Megyn Kelly spent all morning tweeting about this," Hostin said. "I would like to see that same energy from people on the right rather than talking about this issue, talking about the voter suppression that happened yesterday in Georgia, talking about the 112,000 Americans that are still dead from COVID, you know, discussing things like that rather than putting 'Gone With The Wind' in context."
"I think this is much to do about nothing," she added. "I think this is a big distraction, and again, it's a discussion we have had so many times before."
Hostin's shot apparently hit its mark, because McCain immediately apologized for suggesting the topic.
"I mean, I guess I should apologize that we're doing this topic because it was my doing," McCain said. "I was on Twitter last night, and it was a conversation that's been trending, and I actually just thought it would be interesting to talk to you, Whoopi [Goldberg], because you're an Academy Award winner, I believe only the second black Academy Award winner after Hattie McDaniel who won an Oscar, and it's important to talk about censorship in film and books right now because we need to talk about what's appropriate and what's not."
McCain, who is pregnant, said she's been thinking about what movies she will show her child, and how she will present some of that material that has taken on new meaning as cultural attitudes change.
"I did grow up watching 'Gone With The Wind,' and I do view it a little differently, and I would like to know what it means for people who are friends of Hattie McDaniel if it's removed, and I know this seems like a trite and stupid conversation to some of you, but I was interested in it," she said. "So it's my fault this is a topic today."
