Hacked Sony emails published by Wikileaks have brought to light an incident in which Ben Affleck apparently asked the creators of the PBS show Finding Your Roots not to reveal that one of his ancestors was a slave owner.
Affleck's episode, which aired in September 2014, did not include any information about his slave-owning ancestor, although PBS has denied any censorship on its end.
The email conversation was between Sony executive Michael Lynton and
Henry Louis Gates, Jr., a Harvard professor and the host of Finding Your Roots.
"We’ve never had anyone ever try to censor or edit what we found. What do we do?" Gates asked Lynton. "To do this would be a violation of PBS rules, actually, even for Batman,” Gates wrote in a later email.
The emails go on to reveal that Lynton suggested Gates remove the material, writing, "On the doc the big question is who knows that the material is in the doc and is being taken out. I would take it out if no one knows, but if it gets out that you are editing the material based on this kind of sensitivity then it gets tricky."
A clip of Affleck's segment on the show can be seen below:
On April 17, Gates issued a statement concerning the emails, stating, "I maintain editorial control on all of my projects and, with my producers, decide what will make for the most compelling program.
Affleck's episode, which aired in September 2014, did not include any information about his slave-owning ancestor, although PBS has denied any censorship on its end.
"We’ve never had anyone ever try to censor or edit what we found. What do we do?" Gates asked Lynton. "To do this would be a violation of PBS rules, actually, even for Batman,” Gates wrote in a later email.
The emails go on to reveal that Lynton suggested Gates remove the material, writing, "On the doc the big question is who knows that the material is in the doc and is being taken out. I would take it out if no one knows, but if it gets out that you are editing the material based on this kind of sensitivity then it gets tricky."
A clip of Affleck's segment on the show can be seen below:
On April 17, Gates issued a statement concerning the emails, stating, "I maintain editorial control on all of my projects and, with my producers, decide what will make for the most compelling program.
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 3rd great–grandfather who was an occult enthusiast, and his mother who marched for Civil Rights during the Freedom Summer of 1964." On the same web page where Gates' statement appears, PBS also issued a statement concerning the exchange, stating, "It is clear from the exchange how seriously Professor Gates takes editorial integrity. He has told us that after reviewing approximately ten hours of footage for the episode, he and his producers made an independent editorial judgment to choose the most compelling narrative."In the case of Mr. Affleck—we focused on what we felt were the most interesting aspects of his ancestry
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