Ben Affleck (Kinda) Apologizes for Trying to Hide Slave-Owner Ancestor

21 April 2015 8:54 PM, PDT | Vulture | See recent Vulture news »

Reports revealed earlier this week that when Ben Affleck appeared last year on Henry Louis Gates's Find Your Roots for PBS, the newest Batman actor tried to mask the fact that he's a descendent of slave owners. Affleck weighed in on the allegations Tuesday on his Facebook page, writing that he was "embarrassed. The very thought left a bad taste in my mouth." While he lobbied to have those particular ancestors excluded from the show, now he says he's happy his story is contributing to our discussion of the "terrible legacy of slavery." Basically, he had the Anderson Cooper/Ken Burns reaction he probably should have had initially. Here's Affleck's full response-slash-kind-of-sorry-not-sorry-excuse-filled explanatory apology: 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 »

- Sean Fitz-Gerald

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