Ben Affleck has publicly apologized for asking Henry Louis Gates Jr. to conceal that his ancestor owned slaves in the PBS series Finding Your Roots. The information came out in the latest batch of leaked emails from the hacking of Sony's database.
In a message posted to Facebook on Thursday, the Gone Girl star wrote, "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."

| COMMON BLACK HISTORY MYTHS DEBUNKED |

Pointing out that stars participate in the PBS series, in which Gates traces the celebrity's ancestral roots, on a voluntary basis, Affleck adds that the revelation made him feel "quite vulnerable" and that he assumed producers would "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," he concluded. "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."
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(Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images)