PBS, WNET launch internal investigation into 'Finding Your Roots' Ben Affleck episode

The unlikeliest scandal to come out of Wikileaks’ decision to post all of Sony’s hacked emails is the situation with PBS and Finding Your Roots. One email chain revealed that Ben Affleck asked to have his slave-owning ancestor not mentioned in his episode, which quickly launched questions about PBS’ ethics. Now, the network and WNET, the local PBS station that produces the series, are launching an internal investigation.

Last week, Wikileaks posted all 30,000 emails that hackers obtained from Sony last fall. Then, over the weekend, media outlets discovered that the collection included emails between Finding Your Roots host Henry Louis Gates Jr. and Sony Entertainment CEO Michael Lynton.

In the emails, Gates asked Lynton about Affleck’s request that his slave-owning ancestor not be mentioned in his episode. Lynton said that he should grant the request, but only if the public never learns about it. If the public were to find out “that you are editing the material based on this kind of sensitivity then it gets tricky. Again, all things being equal I would definitely take it out,” Lynton wrote.

Gates later defended his move, saying that the show focused on “the most interesting aspects of [Affleck’s] ancestry” and that the show has covered other celebrities’ difficult family pasts.

While PBS initially stood by Gates, the network announced today that they did start an internal investigation on Saturday. PBS insisted that they were not aware of Gates’ decision until Friday, after the emails were made public.

It might be too late for the show to regain its respect. The show’s Facebook page is now littered with posts from viewers who say they will no longer watch the show.

for more celebrity news, follow Daniel on Twitter at @dsl89

image courtesy of INFphoto.com

WordPress › Error

There has been a critical error on your website.

Learn more about debugging in WordPress.