Sharpton spoke Tuesday about the story posted Monday on the website The Smoking Gun that said he had recorded conversations with mobsters.
The website said Sharpton worked with a police-FBI task force. The site posted dozens of pages of documents that it said showed Sharpton's dealings with mob figures.
Sharpton said he went to the FBI when he was threatened by mobsters in the music business.
He says he cooperated with the FBI but didn't consider himself an informant. He says his lawyers are looking at the documents posted on The Smoking Gun.
The website said Sharpton was known as Confidential Informant No. 7.
