zwiebel
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A series of leaked emails appear to reveal that actor Ben Affleck asked for any mention of his slave-owning ancestor be removed from a PBS 'Finding Your Roots' documentary. PBS and host of the show, Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates, made statements saying they hadn't censored anything - it was just a more interesting ancestor was found.
However, a series of email exchanges between Gates and Sony Pictures CEO Michael Lynton seem to tell a different story:
In the emails, Gates goes on to say how he thinks Affleck is being given bad advice and that if news of censoring got out, it would embarrass him and compromise the show's integrity.
http://bigstory.ap.org/article/81b7...ck-asked-pbs-not-reveal-slave-owning-ancestor
However, a series of email exchanges between Gates and Sony Pictures CEO Michael Lynton seem to tell a different story:
"Here's my dilemma: confidentially, for the first time, one of our guests has asked us to edit out something about one of his ancestors--the fact that he owned slaves. Now, four or five of our guests this season descend from slave owners, including Ken Burns. We've never had anyone ever try to censor or edit what we found. He's a megastar. What do we do?" Gates wrote on July 22, 2014.
In the emails, Gates goes on to say how he thinks Affleck is being given bad advice and that if news of censoring got out, it would embarrass him and compromise the show's integrity.
http://bigstory.ap.org/article/81b7...ck-asked-pbs-not-reveal-slave-owning-ancestor