Ben Affleck is another victim of the stolen emails exposed by WikiLeaks. Affleck is now owning up to reports that he hid the fact that one of his distant relatives was a slave owner during the PBS show, Finding Your Roots.
The actor made a statement yesterday after the stolen emails had revealed that he had did ask producers not to include that one of his ancestors owned slaves in the show.
The episode premiered in October and Affleck admitted he was embarrassed and said, “I lobbied [the producer] the same way I lobby directors about what takes of mine I think they should use.”
He posted an apology on Facebook, “After an exhaustive search of my ancestry for “Finding Your Roots,” it was discovered that one of my distant relatives was an owner of slaves.I didn’t want any television show about my family to include a guy who owned slaves. I was embarrassed. The very thought left a bad taste in my mouth.
PBS is singing a very different tune however, claiming that they chose to leave out that part of Affleck’s history because of more interesting finds.
They released a statement, “For any guest, we always find far more stories about ancestors on their family trees than we ever possibly could use,” Gates said in an emailed statement to the AP. “We decided to go with the story we used about his fascinating ancestor who became an occultist following the Civil War. This guy’s story was totally unusual: We had never discovered someone like him before.”
Affleck now regrets his decision to censor is his family’s history and hopes that it will help lead to what he feels is a much needed discussion about our nations history.
“We deserve neither credit nor blame for our ancestors and the degree of interest in this story suggests that we are, as a nation, still grappling with the terrible legacy of slavery,” he wrote. “It is an examination well worth continuing. I am glad that my story, however indirectly, will contribute to that discussion. While I don’t like that the guy is an ancestor, I am happy that aspect of our country’s history is being talked about.”
The controversy has made public curious about the identity of the family member, Affleck revealed his identity on twitter.
“Lots of people have been asking who the guy was. His name was Benjamin Cole-lived in Georgia on my Mom’s side about six generations back.”
