Article: How Sharpton gets paid to not cry ‘racism’ at corporations

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How Sharpton gets paid to not cry ‘racism’ at corporations
http://nypost.com/2015/01/04/how-sh...w&utm_source=NYPTwitter&utm_medium=SocialFlow
By Isabel Vincent and Melissa Klein

January 4, 2015 | 12:23am
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How Sharpton gets paid to not cry ‘racism’ at corporations
Photo: UPI
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Want to influence a casino bid? Polish your corporate image? Not be labeled a racist?

Then you need to pay Al Sharpton.

For more than a decade, corporations have shelled out thousands of dollars in donations and consulting fees to Sharpton’s National Action Network. What they get in return is the reverend’s supposed sway in the black community or, more often, his silence.

Sony Pictures co-chair Amy Pascal met with the activist preacher after leaked e-mails showed her making racially charged comments about President Obama. Pascal was under siege after a suspected North Korean cyber attack pressured the studio to cancel its release of “The Interview,” which depicts the assassination of dictator Kim Jong-un.

Pascal and her team were said to be “shaking in their boots” and “afraid of the Rev,” The Post reported.

No payments to NAN have been announced, but Sharpton and Pascal agreed to form a “working group” to focus on racial bias in Hollywood.

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Sony exec Amy Pascal leaves her hotel after a meeting with Sharpton.Photo: ZUMAPRESS
Sharpton notably did not publicly assert his support for Pascal after the meeting — what observers say seems like a typical Sharpton “shakedown” in the making. Pay him in cash or power, critics say, and you buy his support or silence.

“Al Sharpton has enriched himself and NAN for years by threatening companies with bad publicity if they didn’t come to terms with him. Put simply, Sharpton specializes in shakedowns,” said Ken Boehm, chairman of the National Legal & Policy Center, a Virginia-based watchdog group that has produced a book on Sharpton.

And Sharpton, who now boasts a close relationship with Obama and Mayor de Blasio, is in a stronger negotiating position than ever.

“Once Sharpton’s on board, he plays the race card all the way through,” said a source who has worked with the Harlem preacher. “He just keeps asking for more and more money.”
Horse in the race

One example of Sharpton’s playbook has emerged in tax filings and a state inspector general’s report.

In 2008, Plainfield Asset Management, a Greenwich, Conn.-based hedge fund, made a $500,000 contribution to New York nonprofit Education Reform Now. That money was immediately funneled to the National Action Network.

‘Al Sharpton has enriched himself and NAN for years by threatening companies with bad publicity if they didn’t come to terms with him.’
- Ken Boehm, National Legal & Policy Center chairman
The donation raised eyebrows. Although the money was ostensibly to support NAN’s efforts to bring “educational equality,” it also came at a time that Plainfield was trying to get a lucrative gambling deal in New York.

Plainfield had a $250 million stake in Capital Play, a group trying to secure a license to run the coming racino at Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens. Capital Play employed a lobbyist named Charlie King, who also was the acting executive director of NAN.

Sharpton has said that most of the Plainfield contribution went to pay King’s salary.

King’s company, the Movement Group, was paid $243,586 by NAN in 2008, tax records show.

Harold Levy, a former New York City schools chancellor who was a managing director at Plainfield at the time, has denied the contribution was made to curry favor with Sharpton or anyone else. But a year later, as the battle for the racino license heated up, NAN raked in another $100,000 from representatives of the AEG consortium, which was the successor company to Capital Play.

One AEG member e-mailed another in 2009 saying, “Sharpton lobbied [then-Gov. David Paterson] hard over the weekend on our behalf,” according to the state inspector general’s 2010 report on the corrupt racino licensing process.

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Harold Levy, a former Plainfield director, denied the company donated to NAN for Sharpton’s favor.Photo: Thomas Hinton
In order to discredit SL Green, one of the rival bidders whose plan included a Hard Rock Hotel, an AEG executive sent another e-mail outlining tactics to conscript local leaders to its cause.

“We are going to need it, and we are going to need . . . Sharpton to piss on hard rock,” according to the undated e-mail cited in the IG’s report.

Sharpton denied he lobbied on behalf of AEG.

The donations, meanwhile, came at an opportune time for Sharpton, as NAN was deep in debt to the IRS in 2008. It owed $1.3 million in unpaid federal, state and city payroll taxes including interest and penalties.

AEG viewed its payments to Sharpton as more of an insurance policy so he wouldn’t scuttle its chances by criticizing the group, said a source familiar with the racino controversy.
Cost of doing business

Sharpton raised $1 million for NAN at his 60th birthday bash in October, with donations rolling in from unions and a corporate roster of contributors including AT&T, McDonald’s, Verizon and Walmart.

Companies have long gotten in line to pay Sharpton. Macy’s and Pfizer have forked over thousands to NAN, as have General Motors, American Honda and Chrysler.

‘We cannot be silent while African-Americans spend hard-earned dollars with a company that does not hire, promote or do business with us in a statistically significant manner.’
- Sharpton in a 2003 e-mail to Honda

NAN had repeatedly and without success asked GM for donations for six years beginning in August 2000, a GM spokesman told The Post. Then, in 2006, Sharpton threatened a boycott of GM over the planned closing of an African-American-owned dealership in The Bronx. He picketed outside GM’s Fifth Avenue headquarters. GM wrote checks to NAN for $5,000 in 2007 and another $5,000 in 2008.

Sharpton targeted American Honda in 2003 for not hiring enough African-Americans in management positions.

“We support those that support us,” Sharpton wrote to the company. “We cannot be silent while African-Americans spend hard-earned dollars with a company that does not hire, promote or do business with us in a statistically significant manner.”

Two months later, car-company leaders met with Sharpton, and Honda began to sponsor NAN’s events. The protests stopped.

Sharpton landed a gig as a $25,000-a-year adviser to Pepsi after he threatened a consumer boycott of the soda company in 1998, saying its ads did not portray African-Americans. He held the position until 2007

As for Sony, Sharpton denied that his meeting with Pascal resulted in a donation to NAN.

“I have had no discussion with her about money.” Sharpton told The Post. “There was never even a remote discussion about money.”
 
There are a lot of Sharpton haters out there. His name comes up constantly in the racist comments on yahoo news.
 
A reason for his non support during the sony wars? personally i find him and jesse jackson rather self serving. they seem to like the lime light far to much. mj having to tell jesse to shut up back in 05 is a good example
 
I don't know if it's true, it's the NY Post after all but it wouldn't surprise me if it was given the fact Sharpton was paying for both crowds when Michael called out Motolla.
 
A reason for his non support during the sony wars? personally i find him and jesse jackson rather self serving. they seem to like the lime light far to much. mj having to tell jesse to shut up back in 05 is a good example

Refresh my memory?
 
About jesse? during the trial he kept speaking out "for " mj. mj told him to basically shut his trap
 
About jesse? during the trial he kept speaking out "for " mj. mj told him to basically shut his trap

It's been so long now, but I would have loved to see that. Also, I can't recall what happened with Sharpton except that in the beginning he supported Mike's Sony Wars, and very quickly after he backed off, but I can't remember details. Was Jesse a supporter against Mottola? I do recall most people making Mike out to be p***ed off that Invincible didn't pan out the way he wanted it to, so he played the race card because he was spiteful...? Not that I believe that, I just remember that being the big talk, and making Mike out to look like he had lost his damn mind. I don't know man, my memory isn't what it used to be :p I can't keep track of the MJ celebrity supporters who selectively chose when to support him, hence the Sharpton confusion?
 
Here it's a quote by Al Sharpton which appeared on Tommy Mottola's book Hitmaker. Ivy made the summary and quotes but this one In particular is about the fight Michael had with Mottola. Sharpton is a backstabbing, self serving fame whore playing for both crowds. Originally from this thread. http://www.mjjcommunity.com/forum/t...on-in-his-book-Hitmaker-Comprehensive-summary

- A write up from REVEREND AL SHARPTON



I’ll never forget when Michael came to the National Action Network, and without warning attacked Tommy. Tommy called me right after the rally and said, “What was that all about?” And I could understand where he was coming from, because Tommy had done more than most record company executives and company presidents in his time to push theboundaries for artists, including Michael, who were black. Tommy had been extremely progressive on these issues. And on top of that, you always knew exactly where you were with Tommy. His yes was a yes. His no was a no. He never promised me something that he didn’t deliver. I told him, “Michael feels that Sony is not being fair to him, and he feels that everyone is trying to take the catalog from him.” Tommy said, “I will answer any question you want. But I cannot make numbers and sales that are not there. His own people are not giving him the right information.” Tommy laid out the whole picture and showed me a lot of things that Michael didn’t know: people on his side who were double-dipping, and people telling him things that weren’t there. I told Michael, and I told Johnnie Cochran, who was representing Michael. Tommy was genuinely hurt that Michael didn’t understand that Tommy was doing everything he could do for that album based on the business and the circumstances. He genuinely wanted Michael to understand where he was with it all. It was beyond an executive being attacked in the press. He wanted Michael to know that he really cared about him.
 
Al Sharpton was an FBI informant, this is a fact. I personally loved his eulogy at Michael's memorial but really wish someone else had delivered it because he's such a shady old rat.
 
Obviously was ok with both of them at James Browns funeral.
And that eulogy at the memorial was the best I ever heard.
 
Mj wouldnt be anything but civil with anyone especially at james browns funeral..

tinnyandodd. i couldnt say inregards to jesse and mottola. i dont remember either way
 
Al Sharpton was an FBI informant, this is a fact. I personally loved his eulogy at Michael's memorial but really wish someone else had delivered it because he's such a shady old rat.

THAT IS A LIE. That was cleared up and Rev Al spoke on it as well. See this is the same mess that folk did to MJ. If you are going to label something as FACT make sure you know it is fact. The people who put this out were New York Daily, Foxnews, etc. As for being shady, give me a break. Rev Al speaks out when everyone else run with their tails between their legs and some folks do not like when you are black and speak your mind. The only major mistake Rev Al made was the Tawana story when she accused men of rape and it was not true and he defended her base on the claim; however, HOW IS THAT ANY DIFFERENT IN WHAT PEOPLE INCLUDING THE MEDIA DO TODAY? Look at Cosby, no one knows if those women are telling truth or not and we have no proof YET some folks believe those women. And look how MJ was treated and he was clearly innocent. People are full of it.
 
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Those haters hate Sharpton because Sharpton does not hold his tongue and he calls people out when they are doing nonsense.
 
Well, nobody hardly listens to a "nobody". Sorry but that is just the way it is. You have to be someone to grab the "lime light" to get attention brought to injustice. Look at MLK. HE did a speech ON Washington DC with TV CAMERAS,NOT in Atlanta with no mic.
 
Obviously was ok with both of them at James Browns funeral.
And that eulogy at the memorial was the best I ever heard.

Exactly. As for what this article is saying, So what in my book. When you run an organizatiion, you need donations. I find it funny that these folks wants to talk about Sharpton when the TRUTh of the matter ALL organizations and even charities make money from donations. I do not care if Rev Al told them he would give a company bad press for not doing what is right and doing unfair hiring practices. if these companies were doing what was right in the first place, no one would be going after them. Women groups go after companies who do not hire women and will give those companies bad press. So what is the differences? None. When blacks speak up, some folks want to have a problem with it.
 
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