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MSNBC host Al Sharpton called for a boycott of companies such as PepsiCo over its decision to scale back on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives on Saturday, touting the work of his progressive activist organization.
"Martin Luther King the third, and others joined me as we put on notice those companies, like Pepsi-Cola, that we will withdraw patronage from those that do not live up to what they voluntarily committed in DEI," Sharpton said, noting how his National Action Network organization discussed the matter at its convention last week.
Sharpton has previously led efforts to protest corporations that have said they want to roll back DEI initiatives and policies.
In a letter to Pepsi, he expressed his "profound disappointment" and asked the company to restore its DEI policies, according to the Associated Press.
REV. AL SHARPTON THREATENS BOYCOTTS FOR COMPANIES ENDING DEI: 'YOU TOOK EVERYTHING'
Al Sharpton used his show on Saturday to tout a possible boycott against PepsiCo. (Screenshot/MSNBC)
"You have walked away from equity," Sharpton wrote.
PepsiCo CEO Ramon Laguarta said in a memo to employees in February that they would no longer have established goals for minority representation at the managerial level or supplier base, the AP reported.
Sharpton also threatened the boycott at the NAN's annual convention last week, saying he'd give Pepsi three weeks to change its mind.
On X on Monday, he reiterated the threat.
"This weekend at the National Action Network Saturday Action Rally, I gave PepsiCo 21 days. Not to think about it, to reverse course on walking away from DEI," he wrote. "We helped to build their brand. We won’t fund our own exclusion. If they don’t respond, we begin the boycott. We will not be silent while our dollars are used against our dignity."
Sharpton, a Democratic Party kingmaker who openly boosts its politicians on his MSNBC show, has long blurred the lines between news and activism as a host on the progressive network.
Sharpton and NAN faced scrutiny following the election when it was discovered that Harris’ presidential campaign paid $500,000 to NAN ahead of a friendly Oct. 20 interview with the Democratic nominee just weeks before the election.
MSNBC said at the time that it was "unaware" of the donation made to Sharpton's NAN.
MSNBC and Pepsi did not immediately return requests for comment.
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The Rev. Al Sharpton (L) welcomes Kamala Harris (D-CA) to the podium before she addresses a post-midterm election meeting of Sharpton's National Action Network in the Kennedy Caucus Room at the Russell Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill November 13, 2018 in Washington, DC. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Sharpton also called for Americans to boycott companies scaling back on DEI policies during a Martin Luther King, Jr. Day rally in January.
"Why do we have DEI? We have DEI because you denied us diversity, you denied us equity, you denied us inclusion. DEI was a remedy to the racial institutionalized bigotry practice in academia and in these corporations. Now, if you want to put us back in the back of the bus, we going to do the Dr. King-Rosa Parks on you," Sharpton said.
"You must have forgot who we are," he added. "We are the ones that you took everything, and we still here."
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Sharpton announced that the NAN would take part in a months-long study to investigate companies moving away from DEI policies and their profit margins.
Fox News' Lindsay Kornick contributed to this report.
Hanna Panreck is an associate editor at Fox News.
