Ben Affleck reveals the name of his slave-owning ancestor
Writing on Facebook he said: "Lots of people here have been asking who the guy was.
"His name was Benjamin Cole - lived in Georgia on my mom's side about six generations back."
The actor admitted he had "regrets" about sharing his "thoughts that the issue of slavery not be included" in a US documentary about his family history.
Affleck was criticised at the weekend after leaked emails suggested he pressured a documentary-maker not to include details of slave ownership in his ancestry.
The series, Finding Your Roots, looks back into the family trees of celebrities.
Writing at the time, Broadcaster PBS denied being censored by Affleck.
The show's host, Professor Henry Louis Gates, said in a statement: "In the case of Mr Affleck - we focused on what we felt were the most interesting aspects of his ancestry - including a Revolutionary War ancestor, a third great-grandfather who was an occult enthusiast and his mother who marched for civil rights during the Freedom Summer of 1964."
In a statement on his Facebook page Affleck said: "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."
He later clarified his point in the comments section.
"I see this story being framed as 'censorship' on some sites, when I told Skip I was uneasy about the slave owner, he told me he had not included it in his preliminary cut because there wasn't much detail - a name and no details, so he wasn't going with it to begin with," he wrote.
"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."
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