Ben Affleck apologises over slavery roots documentary cover-up

Ben Affleck has written a public apology and says he regrets trying to cover up his family's "slaver" roots.

Affleck was criticised at the weekend after leaked emails suggested he pressured a documentary maker not to include details of slave ownership in his ancestry.

The series, Finding Your Roots, looks back into the family trees of celebrities.

Writing at the time, Broadcaster PBS denied being censored by Affleck.

The show's host, Professor Henry Louis Gates, said in a statement: "In the case of Mr Affleck - we focused on what we felt were the most interesting aspects of his ancestry - including a Revolutionary War ancestor, a third great-grandfather who was an occult enthusiast and his mother who marched for Civil Rights during the Freedom Summer of 1964."

He also said that slave ownership wasn't unusual.

Now, Affleck has admitted he did pressure the show's creators not to include the slavery story in the programme.

Writing on Facebook, he said: "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.

"Skip decided what went into the show. I lobbied him the same way I lobby directors about what takes of mine I think they should use. This is the collaborative creative process. Skip agreed with me on the slave owner but made other choices I disagreed with. In the end, it's his show and I knew that going in. I'm proud to be his friend and proud to have participated.

"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.

"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. 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 issue came to light after anti-secrecy website Wikileaks released a searchable database of more than 30,000 documents that were stolen by hacker from Sony Corp's Sony Pictures Entertainment in a cyber-attack last year.

Affleck has previously been commended for his humanitarian work, winning a People's Choice Award for his humanitarian efforts in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

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