Actor Ben Affleck has taken to Facebook to release a statement, after a leaked email from Sony published by Wikileaks revealed that he had attempted to cover up the fact he had slave-owning ancestry on a US TV show.
TV series Finding Your Roots is a bit like Who Do You Think You Are - and according to the leaked email, Affleck asked the show's executive producer Henry Louis Gates JR to not include his connection to a slave-owner that was unearthed in the programme's research.
Now Affleck has spoken out about the issue on his Facebook page:
"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," he wrote. "I didn't want any television show about my family to include a guy who owned slaves. I was embarrassed. The very thought of it left a bad taste in my mouth."
But Affleck insisted he didn't demand that part of his history to be edited out, although he "regrets" the decision.
"I lobbied (the producer) the same way I lobby directors about what takes of mine I think they should use. This is the collaborative creative process."
He continued:
"It's important to remember that this isn't a news program*...Finding Your Roots* is a show where you voluntarily provide a great deal of information about your family, making you quite vulnerable. The assumption is that they will never be dishonest but they will respect your willingness to participate and not look to include things you think would embarrass your family."
Then Affleck admitted that ultimately, he had made a bad decision:
"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 begin talked about."
Apparently the show's networks PBS and WNET are now "conducting an internal review" into the episode, after the email was leaked.