EXCLUSIVE: ABC Signature has acquired The Redemption of Al Sharpton, the recent Esquire profile of the civil rights activist by Pulitzer Prize winner Mitchell S. Jackson, to develop as a limited series. No talent is attached at this point but the intention is for Anthony Anderson to star as Sharpton and executive produce. Artists First’s E. Brian Dobbins (black-ish) also is expected to executive produce the project, now in very early stages, with Jackson getting a producing credit.
For The Redemption of Al Sharpton, published in February, Jackson followed the politician & TV/radio personality around the country “to find out why he keeps going, what he’s still doing, and where his place in history will be.”
The profile looks to reconcile Sharpton’s image as “a beacon of the civil-rights movement” and as “a loudmouth in a tracksuit, surrounded by controversy and shady friends.”
Sharpton, a Baptist minister and founder and President of the National Action Network, entered the national political arena in the 1990s, with unsuccessful bids for Democratic Party nominations for mayor of New York City and U.S. Senator for New York State. In 2004, he unsuccessfully sought the Democratic Party nomination for U.S. president. Former President Barack Obama has called Sharpton a “voice for the voiceless” and a “champion for the downtrodden.” No stranger to controversy, while praised for his commitment to social justice issues, Sharpton also has been criticized for making incendiary comments over the course of his career.
Anderson earned 11 Emmy nominations for his work on ABC’s black-ish as a star and executive producer. He recently hosted the Emmys on Fox and the network’s game show We Are Family. He also has his Apple travel reality series Trippin’ with Anthony Anderson and Mama Doris and executive produces the departing black-ish spinoff, grown-ish. As an actor, Anderson recently reprised his role as Detective Kevin Barnard on the 21st season of Law and Order. He is repped by UTA, Artists First and Goodman, Genow, Schenkman, Smelkinson & Christopher.
