Friday, March 29, 2024

Ben Affleck on Slave-Owner Ancestor: ‘I Was Embarrassed’

Ben Affleck accepts the Valentine Davies Award onstage at the 2015 Writers Guild Awards L.A. Ceremony at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza on February 14, 2015 in Century City, California
Ben Affleck accepts the Valentine Davies Award onstage at the 2015 Writers Guild Awards L.A. Ceremony at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza on February 14, 2015 in Century City, California

*Ben Affleck is finally addressing his request that producers of the PBS series “Finding Your Roots” leave out the part about his ancestors owning slaves.

“I didn’t want any television show about my family to include a guy who owned slaves. I was embarrassed,” Affleck posted Tuesday via Facebook. “The very thought left a bad taste in my mouth.”

He said he “lobbied” show host Henry Louis Gates Jr. to keep out the information “the same way I lobby directors about what takes of mine I think they should use. This is the collaborative creative process . . . It’s important to remember that this isn’t a news program” but rather “a show where you voluntarily provide a great deal of information about your family, making you quite vulnerable.”

He added, “I regret my initial thoughts that the issue of slavery not be included in the story.”

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