PBS will postpone new seasons of its documentary series “Finding Your Roots” after determining actor Ben Affleck was able to convince the series’ producers to omit a reference in an episode that aired in October to the fact that he has slave-owning ancestors. 
 
 PBS said Wednesday that it, along with New York station WNET, “determined that the series co-producers violated PBS standards by failing to shield the creative and editorial process from improper influence, and by failing to inform PBS or WNET of Mr. Affleck’s efforts to affect program content.” 
 
 WNET produced the first two seasons of the series, while WETA, based in Washington, D.C., has taken over production of the third season. 
 
 The actor’s request — and its influence on the production of the series — came to light in April, as media outlets reported on private email exchanges between Henry Louis Gates Jr., the Harvard professor who is an executive producer on the series, and Sony Entertainment CEO Michael Lynton in which Gates sought Lynton’s counsel over requests by Affleck to remove a segment from the episode that mentioned that slave owners were part of his family history. 
 
 “I didn’t want any television show about my family to include a guy who owned slaves. I was embarrassed,” Affleck said in a Facebook post made in April. “The very thought left a bad taste in my mouth.” 
 
 PBS said it had decided to delay the third season of the series until its producers could hire an additional factchecker and an independent genealogist. PBS also said it would not commit to a fourth season of the series “until we are satisfied that the editorial standards of the series have been successfully raised to a level in which we can have confidence.” The episode in which Affleck’s ancestry is examined will be withdrawn from all forms of distribution, PBS said, including digital streaming and homevideo. 
 
 The review was led by Beth Hoppe and Stephen Segaller, the executives who oversee primetime programming for PBS and WNET, respectively. To investigate the lapse, PBS and WNET said executives examined correspondence, production records, agreements, talent releases and other documentation regarding the episode, as well as publicly available material. Representatives also interviewed the co-producers, who, PBS said, “fully cooperated in this review.” The law firm of Covington and Burling assisted in the process. 
 
 Gates previously said he had decided to focus on the most intriguing parts of Affleck’s background. “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,” he said in an explanation provided to PBS ombudsman Michael Getler in April. 
 
 “I want to thank PBS for its thoughtful internal review,” Gates said in a statement issued Wednesday. “I sincerely regret not discussing my editing rationale with our partners at PBS and WNET, and I apologize for putting PBS and its member stations in the position of having to defend the integrity of their programming. Throughout my many years of producing genealogy documentaries, I have always operated with rigorous ethical standards. Even so, we have been working with PBS and WETA to create new guidelines to increase transparency going forward. My career has been dedicated to improving race relations and intercultural understanding in our country. We are very excited about the third season of ‘Finding Your Roots’ and look forward to uncovering and sharing many more incredible ancestral stories with our viewers.” 
 
 “Editorial integrity is essential to PBS. As a mission-driven media enterprise, we know that earning and keeping the trust of the American public are our most important priorities,” said Hoppe, who is PBS’ chief programming executive and general manager of general audience programming, in a prepared statement. “The co-producers of ‘Finding Your Roots’ have a strong track record of creating high-quality programming for PBS over many years. Improved editorial and production processes will ensure that all future projects will adhere to PBS’ editorial guidelines.” ||||| One day after Ben Affleck wrote on Facebook that he had lobbied PBS’ Finding Your Roots producer to withhold revealing he has a slave-owning ancestor, the actor took the high road and tweeted information about the relative: 
 
 Lots of people have been asking who the guy was. His name was Benjamin Cole – lived in Georgia on my Mom's side about six generations back. — Ben Affleck (@BenAffleck) April 22, 2015 
 
 In marked contrast, Finding Your Roots producer (and Harvard scholar) Henry Louis Gates, Jr., this afternoon took a stab at hanging onto his gig, as PBS and WNET continue to investigate what Gates did, when and why. Gates issued a second statement about the controversy – this time alternately apologizing for what he’d done to PBS, FYR producing station WNET, and PBS member stations while, at the same time, insisting his are the “most rigorous scholarly and production values.” 
 
 “We regret not sharing Mr. Affleck’s request that we avoid mention of one of his ancestors with our co-production partner, WNET, and our broadcast partner, PBS,” Gates said in this new statement. He apologized for “putting PBS and its member stations in the position of having to defend the integrity of their programming.” 
 
 “Moving forward,” he vowed, possibly too late, “we are committed to an increased level of transparency with our co-producing partners,” adding, “We respect PBS guidelines and understand our obligation to maintain editorial integrity at all times.” 
 
 It’s a very different pose than that assumed by Gates in his first statement, in which he boasted, “The mission of Finding Your Roots is to find and share interesting stories from our celebrity guests’ ancestries and use those stories to unlock new ways to learn about our past,” while “never shying away from chapters of a family’s past that might be unpleasant.” 
 
 Back then, Gates said he had determined Affleck’s occult-enthusiast third great-grandfather, among other relatives, was more interesting/relevant than his slave-owning ancestor. 
 
 Gates’ second statement comes in response to PBS’s abrupt about-face from its initial statement last week on the subject, in which it said confidently that it was clear “how seriously Professor Gates takes editorial integrity.” 
 
 Yesterday, PBS switched to a much sterner announcement that it had launched an investigation into Gates’ handling of the show. PBS’s about-face, in turn, had been triggered by a report from PBS ombudsman Mike Getler, blasting Gates’ actions and PBS’ initial reaction. 
 
 Affleck found himself cast in the role of Collateral Damage in this elaborate soap opera about dysfunctional public broadcasting relationships and Gates’ too cozy alliance with a Sony exec. Other players are the “megastars” that Gate’s show profiles under the pretext that it is teaching viewers about “history.” 
 
 Finding Your Roots is a public broadcasting series that purports to be educational. It uses celebrities to make the “history” part more attractive to as many viewers as possible – in much the same way Pawn Stars uses an old fighter-plane ejection seat to “teach” us about World War II, or a 2001 New England Patriots Super Bowl ring to teach us about the Super Bowl – or the New England Patriots? 
 
 Yesterday, Affleck wrote on Facebook that he’d told Gates he did not want a TV show about his family to reference a relative who owned slaves because “I was embarrassed” and “the very thought left a bad taste in my mouth.” 
 
 He insisted he’d lobbied Gates in exactly the same way he lobbies directors of his movies as to which of his “takes” he thinks the director should use, calling it “the collaborative creative process.” Of course, Finding Your Roots isn’t one of Affleck’s movies, though he was quick to note it also “isn’t a news program.” 
 
 But it is, according to Gates, funded to some degree by the Public Broadcasting Service and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, who may not see eye to eye with Affleck on the whole “collaborative process” thing when it comes to this allegedly educational series and the various hats its celebrity subjects may, or may not, wear. 
 
 PBS aired the episode of Finding Your Roots that included Affleck’s story last fall. The whole history of the episode never would have come to light had not WikiLeaks released a searchable archive of hacked Sony emails. 
 
 Among the leaked documents was an email exchange between Gates and Sony Entertainment CEO Michael Lynton from before the episode’s broadcast, in which Gates sought Lynton’s advice about the Affleck request. 
 
 Gates acknowledged in one email that fulfilling the request “would be a violation of PBS rules, actually, even for Batman” and “would embarrass him and compromise our integrity” and that “once we open the door to censorship, we lose control of the brand.” He also wrote, “We’ve never had anyone ever try to censor or edit what we found” while noting this particular celebrity is a “megastar.” Affleck has noted on Facebook that he has seen this story being framed as “censorship” on some web sites; Gates’ emails are the reason why. 
 
 “What do we do?” Gates asked Lynton, not PBS and/or WNET. He appears to have taken Lynton’s advice to take out the reference though, in fairness to Lynton, the Sony exec did also warn things would get tricky if word got out that Gates was letting celebrities edit their histories. Lynton forgot to mention things also would get tricky if word got out that Gates had sought advice from a Sony exec rather than one from PBS. ||||| LOS ANGELES (AP) — PBS put its "Finding Your Roots" series on hold Wednesday after determining an episode that omitted references to Ben Affleck's ancestor as a slave owner violated its standards. 
 
 FILE - In this Nov. 14, 2014 file photo, Ben Affleck poses in the press room with the Hollywood film award for "Gone Girl" at the Hollywood Film Awards in Los Angeles. PBS says it's postponing the third... (Associated Press) 
 
 FILE - In this Oct. 2, 2013 file photo, Harvard University professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr., addresses the audience during an award ceremony for the W.E.B. Du Bois Medal at Harvard University, in Cambridge,... (Associated Press) 
 
 The public television service said it is postponing the show's third season and delaying a commitment to a fourth year until it is satisfied with improvement in the show's editorial guidelines. 
 
 PBS launched its investigation after it was reported that Affleck requested the program not reveal his ancestor's slave-holding history in the 2014 episode. The Associated Press examined historical documents and found that Affleck's great-great-great-grandfather owned 24 slaves. 
 
 The review found that co-producers violated PBS standards by allowing improper influence on the show's editorial process and failed to inform PBS or producing station WNET of Affleck's efforts to affect the program's content. 
 
 In a statement, series host and executive producer Henry Louis Gates Jr. apologized for forcing PBS to defend the integrity of its programming. He said he's working with public TV on new guidelines to ensure increased transparency. 
 
 Affleck's request came to light last spring in hacked Sony emails published online by whistleblower site WikiLeaks. 
 
 "These reports marked the first time that either PBS or WNET learned of this request," PBS said Wednesday. 
 
 PBS said it will withdraw the episode from all forms of distribution including on-air, digital platforms and home video. The show was also ordered to hire an additional researcher and an independent genealogist to review programs for factual accuracy. 
 
 Asked for comment from Affleck, a representative referred to remarks he had posted when the issue first was reported. 
 
 "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 said on his Facebook page in April. 
 
 The award-winning "Good Will Hunting" and "Argo" actor said he was "embarrassed" for a TV show about his family to include a slave owner. He added, among other comments, that "Finding Your Roots" isn't a news program. 
 
 Gates and PBS said in April they didn't censor the slave-owner details. Instead, more interesting ancestors of Affleck emerged and Gates chose to highlight them instead in the show that traces the ancestry of well-known guests. 
 
 But in an email exchange between Gates and Sony Pictures chief executive Michael Lynton, Gates asks Lynton for advice on how to handle Affleck's request. 
 
 "Here's my dilemma," says Gates in one email, dated July 22, 2014, "confidentially, 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. Now, four or five of our guests this season descend from slave owners, including (documentary filmmaker) Ken Burns. We've never had anyone ever try to censor or edit what we found. He's a megastar. What do we do?" 
 
 Lynton replied that it all depends on who knows that the information was in the documentary already. 
 
 Last January, PBS station WETA in Washington, D.C., succeeded WNET as the show's producing station. 
 
 ___ 
 
 AP Television Writer David Bauder in New York contributed to this report.
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