Reverend Al Sharpton filed for divorce from his wife Kathy 17 years after they separated.
The 66-year-old civil rights activist and Baptist minister presented the paperwork on Thursday. They have lived separately since 2004.
The duo met in the 1970s, when he was on tour with James Brown and she was a support singer.
Rev. Al Sharpton and his wife, Kathy, leave Canaan Baptist Church after renewing their wedding vows, Sunday, August 26, 2001, in New York. They separated in 2004 and Rev Sharpton filed for divorce on February 11, 2021
Rev Al Sharpton and girlfriend Aisha McShaw, 23 years younger, photographed in 2013 at the celebration of Kedar Massenburg’s 50th birthday at the Water Fall Mansion in New York City. The divorce petition has sparked rumors that they may be about to get married
(left to right) Reverend Al Sharpton, daughter Dominique Sharpton, Rachel Noerdlinger, daughter Ashley Sharpton, Tamika Mallory and his ex-wife Kathy Jordan participate in the Official Sharpton Entertainment Launch Event at Parlor on January 23, 2013 in the city of New York. The year he was first photographed with girlfriend Aisha McShaw
They married in 1980 and were together for 24 years before they separated. Sharpton and Jordan share two daughters Ashley and Dominique, who married Dr. Marcus Bright in 2017.
Since 2013, Rev Sharpton, the founder of The National Action Network, has been linked to Aisha McShaw, 42, who is 23 years younger.
They were photographed together for the first time in July 2013 at the New York County Democratic Committee Award Ceremony, when McShaw told attendees that he was his ‘girlfriend’.
At the time, the New York Daily News reported that she had a teenage daughter, Laila, from a previous relationship.
After Sharpton received criticism for the relationship because he was still married, although separated for 9 years, he reportedly told his aide Rachel Noerdlinger: ‘Rachel, I am not announcing an engagement or wedding. Am I not allowed to date when my marriage ended a decade ago? ‘
At the time, McShaw told reporters that she was a ‘stylist’, although her LinkedIn page described her as a personal banker at Wells Fargo.
On the McShaw website, where she now sells personalized designer clothes, she said that ‘began his fashion journey as a stylist, stylist for housewives, corporate women, celebrities and participating in various events on the red carpet. ‘
She says she is ‘influenced by the old Hollywood glamor’.
The now 42-year-old debuted at New York Fashion Week in 2017, where she showed off her custom-made collections.
She said in a comment posted on her website in 2018 that ‘every woman wants to feel beautiful, confident and empowered’.
The divorce petition, reported by TMZ, has sparked rumors that he may be preparing to marry McShaw.
He allegedly filed for a contested divorce at the Manhattan Supreme Court on Thursday, court records show.
Rev Sharpton and Aisha McShaw (far right) were photographed on Aretha Franklin’s 73rd birthday (downtown) in New York in 2015
Aisha McShaw and Reverend Al Sharpton are pictured together left and right in 2013
In 2014, McShaw attended several events at the White House, including an official state dinner when the Obama administration hosted French President François Hollande and the White House correspondents’ dinner in 2014, 2015 and 2016.
In 2015, she was photographed with Aretha Franklin on her 73rd birthday at the Ritz Carlton hotel in New York.
Sharpton, who has spoken openly during the Black Lives Matter movement and after George Floyd’s death last year, has been frequently seen with Aisha McShaw in his East 65th Street condo.
Last year, it was alleged that Rev. Sharpton’s non-profit civil rights charity, the National Action Network, paid more than $ 80,000 to the pastor’s relatives in 2019, according to tax records obtained by The New York Post.
Receiving most of the family-friendly funds was Sharpton’s 34-year-old daughter, Ashley Sharpton, who received $ 63,250 for social media and consulting work for NAN, according to a 2019 tax return.
Reverend Nikki Sharpton’s niece, 46, also received some of the organization’s love, raising $ 13,750 for work at a special event at the NAN site in Atlanta.
As president of NAN, Sharpton received $ 327,570 in 2019, according to the tax return.
Rev. Al Sharpton and boxing champion Muhammad Ali, pictured in an undated photo, help launch the “KO Crack” seminar in a coordinated effort between the sports and entertainment industries
The Post also pointed out that Sharpton’s eldest daughter, Dominique Sharpton, 34, has not been listed as receiving any compensation, although she has been the director of NAN members since 2008.
Sharpton founded NAN in New York City in 1991. It presents itself as a ‘social justice activist organization that works in the spirit of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr to provide a modern civil rights and human rights agenda’.
NAN’s tax record was controversial in 2018, when a lawsuit revealed that Sharpton sold the rights to his life story to the organization for $ 531,000.
Rev. Al Sharpton Biography
Rev Al Sharpton photographed in 1987 at a Tina Turner concert
Rev. Sharpton was born Alfred Charles Sharpton Jr. on October 3, 1954, in Brooklyn, New York, to Ada (born Richards) and Alfred Charles Sharpton Sr.
The future Baptist minister reportedly preached his first sermon at the age of four, becoming an ordained minister at 10 and reportedly once on tour with Mahalia Jackson, the famous gospel singer.
In the late 1960s, he became active in the civil rights movement, joining the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.
In 1969, Sharpton was appointed by Jesse Jackson to serve as a young director of the New York City branch of Operation Breadbasket, a group that focused on promoting new and better jobs for African Americans.
In 1971, he founded the National Youth Movement, to raise funds for poor young people.
From 1973 to 1980, Sharpton was the tour manager for singer James Brown, where he met his future wife, Kathy Jordan, who was a back-up singer.
Sharpton said of Brown: ‘He became like a father that I never had.’
In 1980, he and Kathy Jordan married and had two daughters, Ashley and Dominique.
During the 1980s, Sharpton was involved in many important cases in the New York City area that affected the African American community and led several protests against what he believed were injustices and incidents of racial discrimination.
The most controversial was that of Tawana Brawley, a 15-year-old girl who said she had been kidnapped and raped by white men.
Sharpton made comments and was successfully sued by Steven Pagones, one of the white men accused of raping Brawley, for defamation.
On January 12, 1991, Sharpton escaped an assassination attempt when he was stabbed in the chest in a Brooklyn schoolyard by Michael Riccardi while Sharpton prepared to lead a protest.
Sharpton survived and successfully sued New York for $ 200,000, saying the police failed to protect him.
In 2001, he renewed his vows with wife Kathy Jordan, but the two split in 2004, the year he ran for the Democratic nomination for president.
In 2009, the Federal Election Commission announced that it had charged him a $ 285,000 fine for breaking campaign finance rules in 2004.
In 2011, he was appointed host of MSNBC’s PoliticsNation, an evening talk show.
In 2015, the program was changed to Sunday mornings.
Rev Sharpton has spoken openly during the growing Black Lives Matter movement, participating in protests and speeches following the deaths of Trayvon Martin in 2012, Eric Garner in 2014 and George Floyd in 2020, among many others.