Ben Affleck finally told his side of the story in the controversy that has damaged the reputation of PBS’ Finding Your Roots and its host, Henry Louis “Skip” Gates. Affleck said he was “embarrassed” to discover that he has an ancestor who owned slaves and he did ask for that fact not to be mentioned in his episode.

The scandal exploded over the weekend when an email chain between Gates and Sony Entertainment CEO Michael Lynton was made public among 30,000 leaked Sony documents by Wikileaks. Gates had asked Lynton if he shouldn’t mention Affleck’s slave-owning ancestor and Lynton suggested that he do so, but to make sure that the public didn’t find out.

The public has found out and many portrayed Gates’ actions as censorship. PBS and WNET, which produces the show, said Tuesday that they have launched an investigation and did not find out about Gates’ decision until this past weekend.

Now, Affleck is telling his site of the story in a long Facebook post. “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,” the Batman v Superman star wrote.

He said that Gates ultimately decided what was included in the episode. “This is the collaborative creative process,” Affleck wrote. “Skip agreed with me on the slave owner but made other choices I disagreed with. In the end, it's his show and I knew that going in. I'm proud to be his friend and proud to have participated.”

Affleck stressed that this is not a news program and he voluntarily signed up to do the show.

“I regret my initial thoughts that the issue of slavery not be included in the story. We deserve neither credit nor blame for our ancestors and the degree of interest in this story suggests that we are, as a nation, still grappling with the terrible legacy of slavery,” Affleck continued. “It is an examination well worth continuing. I am glad that my story, however indirectly, will contribute to that discussion. 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.”

A few hours after the initial post, Affleck left another message, writing that Gates told him that there was little information about the slave-owning ancestor beyond a name. “He also told me they would do a book later with a more complete story, and I said I would be happy to participate and talk about the issues more broadly,” Affleck concluded.

Affleck’s episode aired back in October. Here’s a clip from the show:

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