Affleck asked programme makers not to mention slave-owning ancestor

Actor Ben Affleck has expressed regret for asking the makers of a discover-your-past TV show to exclude the fact that he had a slave-owning ancestor.

Affleck, 42, said on his Facebook page that he was “embarrassed” to have a show about his family “include a guy who owned slaves”, but added: “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.”