El actor estadounidense Ben Affleck, defensor de las causas liberales, solicitó a los productores de un programa que indagaba sobre sus orígenes no revelar que uno de sus antepasados tenía esclavos, según un correo electrónico revelado por WikiLeaks. Este email es parte de una serie de correos embarazosos revelados tras el ataque informático a Sony Pictures en 2014 y publicado el jueves por Wikileaks.
En el mensaje, el director general de Sony, Michael Lynton, y Henry Louis Gates, el profesor de Harvard y presentador del programa «Finding your Roots« -que rastrea las raíces de sus famosos invitados-, intercambian opiniones sobre una solicitud de Ben Affleck de no mencionar durante el programa que uno de sus ancestros tenía esclavos.
«Este es mi dilema», escribe Gates. «A título confidencial, por primera vez, uno de nuestros invitados pidió que no se mencionara una información sobre uno de sus antepasados, el hecho de que tenía esclavos (…) Nunca antes nadie había intentado censurar algo que hayamos descubierto. Se trata de una superestrella. ¿Qué hacemos?», pregunta.
Lynton aconseja a Gates censurar esta información. Este último teme que esto «comprometa su integridad». Al final, la emisión no hizo referencia al antepasado de Ben Affleck.
Gates «y sus productores tomaron una pauta editorial independiente, para conversar las historias más interesantes», afirmó en respuesta el canal PBS, que transmite el programa, en un comunicado.
Pero en otro de los correos filtrados, Henry Louis Gates, Jr ponía como ejemplo el caso de un ancestro del famoso reportero de CNN Anderson Cooper, al que sí que considera un ancestro difícil de aceptar. Y pese a ello no se censuró nada. Por este motivo el conductor del programa no era partidario de censurar el antepasado de Affleck: Once we open the door to censorship, we lose control of the brand.
Affleck, que interpretará en 2016 a Batman, no es la primera víctima del hackeo informático de Sony. En precedentes correos electrónicos hechos públicos, un director describe a la actriz Angelina Jolie como una «niña mimada con poco talento», y en otros se leen comentarios racistas contra el presidente estadounidense Barack Obama.
El correo electrónico de la polémica
Date 2014-07-22 16:08:44
From mailer-daemon To henry, jr.
Re:
Of course I will stay on the board if you want me to. On the doc the big question is who knows that the material is in the doc and is being taken out. 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.
On Jul 22, 2014, at 9:01 AM, Henry Louis Gates, Jr. wrote:
> As long as you stay on the board, you are free to say this is crazy! I hardly know Harvey; you are my friend. I really would be devastated if you left. By the way, I need your advice: I»m on a flight to L.A. for the TCA Press Tour. We launch season two of Finding Your Roots tomorrow at noon, and four celebrities, including Nas, are showing up. Here»s my dilemma: 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 Ken Burns. We»ve never had anyone ever try to censor or edit what we found. He»s a megastar. What do we do?
>
> Sent from my iPad
>
>> On Jul 22, 2014, at 11:55 AM, «Lynton, Michael» <Michael_Lynton@spe.sony.com> wrote:
>>
>> ok, will stay quiet on the subject.
>>> On Jul 22, 2014, at 8:50 AM, Henry Louis Gates, Jr. wrote:
>>>
>>> OH, NO! Please don»t do that, Michael. I would be devastated.
>>>
>>> Sent from my iPad
>>>
>>>> On Jul 22, 2014, at 11:50 AM, «Lynton, Michael» <Michael_Lynton@spe.sony.com> wrote:
>>>>
>>>> not like mine, maybe i should step down from the board.
>>>>> On Jul 22, 2014, at 8:47 AM, Henry Louis Gates, Jr. wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>> I know. I»ve had my moments with Harvey, too, believe me.
>>>>>
>>>>> Sent from my iPad
>>>>>
>>>>>> On Jul 22, 2014, at 11:04 AM, «Lynton, Michael» <Michael_Lynton@spe.sony.com> wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> no worries, just not on my watch.
>>>>>>> On Jul 22, 2014, at 7:38 AM, Henry Louis Gates, Jr. wrote:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Sorry, bro! After he received this huge award from the black film makers, he was unanimously selected–though after considerable discussion about his personality.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> —– Original Message —–
>>>>>>> From: Lynton, Michael [mailto:Michael_Lynton@spe.sony.com]
>>>>>>> Sent: Tuesday, July 22, 2014 10:24 AM
>>>>>>> To: Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
>>>>>>> Subject: Re:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> I would do many things for you, almost anything, but not that.
>>>>>>>> On Jul 22, 2014, at 7:19 AM, Henry Louis Gates, Jr. wrote:
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Would you consider coming to cambridge to present Harvey Weinstein with the Du Bois Medal on September 30th? Meryl is receiving one, Steve Mc Queen, Shonda Rhimes, Maya Angelou, and Valerie Jarrett. Maybe Poitier.
>>
>