Ben Affleck Tells Us His Slave Owner Ancestor’s Name
The slave owner ancestor Ben Affleck didn’t want us to know about finally has a name: Benjamin Cole.
After lying low for several days following the revelation that he asked the executive producer and host of Finding Your Roots, Henry Louis Gates Jr., not to include a slave owner ancestor the show’s researcher found in the episode, Affleck took to social media to explain his actions.
On Tuesday, he posted a statement on his Facebook page expressing his regret for not wanting the ancestor to be included and saying he was embarassed by the ancestor’s actions.
On Wednesday, he followed that up with a tweet naming the ancestor:
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Affleck also said on his Facebook page that while the ancestor didn’t make it into the final cut of the show, he “would be happy to participate and talk about the issues more broadly’’ in the series’ companion book, which would have a “more complete story.’’ Gates told Boston.com on Tuesday that the book is due out in the fall.
Though PBS said it didn’t know about Affleck’s request until the emails were leaked last week, it has launched an internal review into the matter “to determine whether or not all of PBS’s editorial standards were observed.’’
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