Al Sharpton says the New York Post should know    better than to accuse him of political pay-to-play.  
    On Sunday, Rupert Murdochs New York Post took    aim at the Rev. Al, charging the grandstanding civil rights    leader with muscling companies like Sony Pictures out of hush    money for his National Action Network, in order to make racial    discrimination accusations go away.  
    But according to Sharpton, the Post article somehow forgot to    mention that their 83-year-old Svengali has played ball with    him, too.  
    In February 2009, when Sharpton was leading protests outside    the Posts Midtown headquarters after it ran a cartoon that    many New Yorkers felt compared President Obama    to a chimpanzee, Sharpton says he met with the Posts parent,    News Corp., to hammer out a deal.  
    I met with Murdoch, he issued a statement, and we let it go,    Sharpton said. After that they formed this diversity board    where we were supposed to have input, then the board fell    apart.  
    Sharpton insists he wasnt paid for his consultancy on that    board, but he estimates it was four or five years ago, right    around 2009, that News Corp. started buying $5,000 to $10,000    tables at his NAN events. He also denies a connection between    those transactions and the end of his protests, arguing that    News Corp.s contributions to his organization date back to    around 2007.  
    When you talk about a company wanting to attend your banquet    and mingle, they might buy a table or a ticket, Sharpton told    Confidenti@l. That doesnt mean its a shakedown.   
    Sharpton insists that just like any other company, News Corp.,    the parent company of the Post and Fox News, pays to attend NAN    events and network with prominent black businessman and    politicians including Obama.  
    Sharpton also points out that around 2009, Fox commentator    Bill OReilly donated $25,000 to his    organization and that it hasnt bought OReilly amnesty from    criticism.  
    In their Sunday takedown, the Post further contends, For more    than a decade, corporations have shelled out thousands of    dollars in donations and consulting fees to Sharptons National    Action Network. What they get in return is the reverends    supposed sway in the black community or, more often, his    silence.  
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Al Sharpton says N.Y. Post held talks with him on race issue