MSNBC host Rev. Al Sharpton is no stranger to controversy as revelations about what has been called a “pay to play” scheme extend the long shadow of scandal that follows him.
Last week, MSNBC admitted it was “unaware” of the vice president Kamala Harrispresidential campaign paid $500,000 to Sharpton’s National Action Network nonprofit ahead of an October 20 friendly interview with the Democratic candidate just weeks before the election.
Following Harris’ defeat by newly elected President Donald Trump, FEC registrations revealed that the Harris campaign made two $250,000 donations to Sharpton’s nonprofit in September and October. However, the MSNBC weekend host did not disclose the apparent conflict of interest to viewers before or after the interview. He also did not disclose the donations to his bosses at the network, according to the Washington Free Beacon, which broke the story.
MSNBC host Rev. Al Sharpton has a history of scandal and controversy well beyond the latest pay for play accusations. (Brian Stukes/Getty Images; Kim Kulish/Corbis via Getty Images; Screenshot/MSNBC)
Sharpton’s political stripes are no secret as he openly supports Harris and the Democratic Party, even speaking at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. But the six-figure transaction between his group and the Harris campaign is a “bridge too far” among his MSNBC colleagues, according to a network insider.
While it is unclear whether Sharpton will face any consequences for the blatant conflict of interest, this marks the latest scandal to face the outspoken activist. These are some of the controversies he has been embroiled in over the decades.
Tax problems
Sharpton has developed a reputation for playing fast and loose when it comes to his taxes. In 1993, he pleaded guilty to failing to file his 1986 tax returns in exchange for two charges being dropped.
In 2008, it was revealed that Sharpton owed nearly $1.5 million in back taxes.
The New York Times outlined some of his other financial problems over the years. In 1990, he was acquitted of criminal charges after being accused of stealing as much as $250,000 from a youth group. Three years later, he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge after failing to file income tax returns. One of his profitable companies, Raw Talent, was also busted for not paying taxes for years.
“Records reviewed by The New York Times show that there are more than $4.5 million in current state and federal tax liens against him and his profitable companies,” the Times reported in 2014.
Promoting Tawana Brawley’s rape hoax
Despite his prominent stint at MSNBC, Sharpton is perhaps best known for his support of infamous rape hoaxer Tawana Brawley.
Brawley, a 15-year-old black girl, claimed in 1987 that she was kidnapped and raped by a group of white men after disappearing from her New York home for four days. She was covered in feces and racial slurs all over her body.
Sharpton was one of her closest advisors and was her most outspoken defender, fueling racial tensions across the country. A grand jury ultimately ruled that her claims were false.
Sharpton himself was sued for defamation by one of the individuals who accused Brawley, who was awarded $65,000 in damages. Sharpton’s supporters paid the bill years later after he claimed he didn’t have the money.
Rev. Al Sharpton was the biggest promoter of the Tawana Brawley rape hoax. (John Pedin/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images)
To this day, Sharpton has no regrets about defending Brawley.
“I have no evidence that I was misled,” Sharpton said said in an interview in January 2023. “My position was that there was an accusation from this young lady that it was really questionable behavior on the part of some of the people she was accusing.”
History of anti-Semitism
The prominent activist has had a disturbing record of anti-Semitism over the years.
In 1991, Sharpton defended New York City College professor Leonard Jeffries, who sparked outrage with his speech targeting “rich Jews” who he said financed the slave trade and controlled Hollywood, saying they had “created a system of destruction for black people set up’. He responded to the controversy by saying, “If the Jews want to deal with it, tell them to pin back their yarmulkes and come to my house.”
KAMALA HARRIS INTERVIEWERS RECEIVE MAJOR CAMPAIGN DONATIONS TO THEIR GROUPS PRIOR TO SIT DOWNS
That same year, Sharpton fueled a deadly anti-Semitic gang in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, after a Jewish man fatally pinned a 7-year-old black boy with his car in a horrific accident.
At the boy’s funeral, Sharpton said: “The world will tell us he died by accident. Yes, it was a social accident. It is an accident to allow an apartheid ambulance service in the middle of Crown Heights… Talk about how Oppenheimer in South Africa sends diamonds directly to Tel Aviv and trades with the diamond merchants here in Crown Heights.” His use of “diamond merchants” referred to Jewish jewelers. He also led protests with chants of “Kill the Jews!” and “No justice, no peace!”
The riots led to the fatal stabbing of rabbinic scholar Yankel Rosenbaum by a black teenager.
Rev. Al Sharpton sparked racial tensions in Crown Heights, targeting the Jewish community after a black child was fatally struck by a Jewish motorist. (Daily News Archive via Getty Images)
CLICK HERE FOR THE LATEST MEDIA AND CULTURE NEWS
The incident was investigated and no charges were filed. But after the Jewish man moved to Israel, Sharpton rushed to the Jewish state to track him down. According to the New York Daily News, a woman saw Sharpton at the airport and told him “Go to hell,” to which he replied, “I’m already in hell. I’m in Israel.”
In 1995, Sharpton called a Jewish store owner in Harlem a “white intruder” after the store owner raised the rent of his black subtenant after the store owner’s own rent was increased by the building’s owner, a black Pentecostal church. Sharpton and his National Action Network organized weeks of protests that led to a shooting that left seven people dead and the Jewish store owner’s business burned to the ground.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
