'Dancing With the Stars' Season 20 Cast: Does Rev. Al Sharpton Have Plans To Compete In New Edition? [VIDEO]
While Rev. Al Sharpton is often in the media for a variety of reasons, he apparently draws the line at being on ABC's Dancing With the Stars.
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Sharpton appeared at the National Action Network's D.C. breakfast on Monday where he discussed the idea of activism and why he doesn't want to compete on Dancing With the Stars.
"You often hear people say, "Oh, there they go again, Sharpton and them wanting publicity.' That's exactly what we want," he said, according to the New York Daily News. "Part of the role of activist is to get your attention.
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"You don't see me on Dancing with the Stars. You see us dealing with social issues and to draw the attention to those issues and if you don't do that, people are not going to deal with those issues in the dark. Our job is to put the lights on where they don't want to go. And once you do, you're going to get a reaction."
Sharpton is in the news again due to his call to action about the lack of diversity among Oscar nominees this year. This is the first year since 1998 that all of the acting nominees are white. The highly acclaimed civil rights drama Selma only received two nominations, for Best Picture and Best Song. It remains to be seen if anything further with be done between Sharpton and the Academy.
Dancing With the Stars season 20 is set to premiere Monday, March 16 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC.
