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Ben Affleck has issued an apology for hiding information about his ancestors on the PBS show Finding Your Roots.

 

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The actor took to his Facebook page to discuss why he decided to ask show host Henry Louis Gates Jr. and producers to take out the information that one of his distant relatives owned slaves. Gates spoke out about the episode after Sony email hackings revealed Affleck requested the information be scrubbed from the episode.

Since the reveal, both parties have taken serious blows, from viewers slamming Gates as a sellout, to many claiming Affleck was censoring his life story. But Affleck says Finding Your Roots was a voluntary effort, and didn’t believe it was a problem requesting that the info be removed.

“I didn’t want any television show about my family to include a guy who owned slaves,” he said. “I was embarrassed. The very thought left a bad taste in my mouth. I regret my initial thoughts that the issue of slavery not be included in the story. 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. It is an examination well worth continuing. I am glad that my story, however indirectly, will contribute to that discussion.”

Affleck insisted the information wasn’t going to make it to the final cut of the episode, since there was little else found out about the distant relative.

Check out the actor’s full statement below:

SOURCE: The Hollywood Reporter | VIDEO CREDIT: News Inc. 

Ben Affleck Apologizes For Scrubbing Slave-Owner Ancestor From “Finding Your Roots”  was originally published on newsone.com