NEW YORK — PBS is conducting an internal review following revelations that producers of “Finding Your Roots” may have violated the network’s editorial standards following a request by Ben Affleck that the program not reveal he had a slave-owning ancestor. That information did not appear on the episode featuring the actor, which aired in October.
The review by PBS and station WNET began on Saturday, according to a statement released Tuesday by PBS.
Affleck’s request came to light last week in hacked Sony emails published online by whistleblower site WikiLeaks.
PBS and Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates, host of the show, said then they didn’t censor the slave-owner details. Instead, more interesting ancestors of the actor emerged, and Gates chose to highlight them instead.
The show traces the ancestry of well-known guests.
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