AceShowbiz -

Ben Affleck requested the PBS documentary series "Finding Your Roots" not to reveal the information about his slave-owning ancestor. An email chain between the program's host, Henry Louis Gates, and Sony Pictures co-chairman and chief executive, Michael Lynton, revealed that the actor asked them to edit part of the interview which mentioned his slave-owning ancestor.

An email from Gates to Lynton which is published by whistle-blower website WikiLeaks stated, "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." Gates asked for suggestion from Lynton on how to handle Affleck's request to edit the episode.

In his dilemma, Gates suggested that censoring the segment would be a violation of PBS rules, "even for Batman," and would compromise the show's integrity. "It would embarrass him and compromise our integrity. I think he is getting very bad advice. Once we open the door to censorship, we lose control of the brand," he wrote.

However, Lynton responded by advising him to honor the star's wishes. "I would take it out if no one knows, but if it gets 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," he said. The information never appeared on the program after Lynton gave the suggestion.

Responding to the leaked email, on Friday, April 17, Gates defended their decision to edit out that chapter of Affleck's ancestor, reasoning that it wasn't "interesting" enough. "We focused on what we felt were the most interesting aspects of his ancestry - including a Revolutionary War ancestor, a 3rd great-grandfather who was an occult enthusiast, and his mother who marched for Civil Rights during the Freedom Summer of 1964," he stated. Meanwhile, the "Good Will Hunting" actor's rep did not immediately respond to request for comment.