{"id":2183,"date":"2026-06-20T17:36:09","date_gmt":"2026-06-20T17:36:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=2183"},"modified":"2026-06-20T17:36:09","modified_gmt":"2026-06-20T17:36:09","slug":"what-happens-when-finding-your-roots-uncovers-a-famous-family-secret-too-big-to-air","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=2183","title":{"rendered":"What Happens When \u2018Finding Your Roots\u2019 Uncovers a Famous Family Secret Too Big to Air?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n<\/p>\n
\n

\n\tMinutes into a Zoom interview with Henry Louis Gates Jr., he\u2019s quoting Don King as he discusses two discoveries in season\u202f12 of his PBS series Finding Your Roots<\/em>: actress America Ferrera finding out one of her ancestors was a free mulatto of mixed African origin \u2014 and she\u2019s a distant cousin of director Ava DuVernay \u2014 and actress Sanaa Lathan learning she\u2019s the descendant of a wealthy white slave owner.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Read more \u2018Project Runway\u2019 Season 22 Guest Judges and Cameos: Nina Dobrev, Ciara, Ice Spice and More<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cOnly in America,\u201d says the host. \u201cOr since America\u2019s [family is] from Honduras, I should say, \u2018Only in the Americas.\u2019\u00a0\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tSince 2012, the Harvard professor has hosted the TV series in which he presents famous figures, from Tina Fey to Deepak Chopra, with a book of their families\u2019 layered maternal and paternal histories, which come together via DNA testing and research gathered by genetic genealogy expert CeCe Moore and a team of three full-time genealogists. The conversations are at once revelatory, emotional and judgment-free. \u201cThere\u2019s \u2018stuff\u2019 on every family tree,\u201d says Gates.<\/p>\n

\nAs a host, you\u2019re not just relaying personal information to guests; they\u2019re opening up to you about their private family stories. How much time do you spend with them before filming?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tI meet the guests on set. But there is one exception. If you were our guest and we found out that, let\u2019s say, your daddy wasn\u2019t your daddy but your daddy didn\u2019t know, I have an ethics protocol and we would reach out to your publicist and say, \u201cWe\u2019ve learned something in our research that we need to discuss directly.\u201d And everybody knows it\u2019s not good news. It\u2019s like when your doctor calls you the same day you had a blood test. You go, \u201cOh shit, this is not going to say you\u2019re going to live to 120.\u201d So I would say, \u201cWe\u2019ve discovered something in the course of our research that is forever going to change your understanding of your family. Do you want to know or not?\u201d And then you would say, \u201cYes, of course, I want to know.\u201d And I would say, \u201cThe man that you called your father is not your biological father.\u201d Or, more likely, \u201cThe man you called your grandfather\u201d \u2014 like in the case of Joe Manganiello \u2014 \u201chad no biological relationship to you. Your grandmother had an affair\u201d \u2014 in his case \u2014 \u201cwith a Black man.\u201d In fact, Joe has done so much subsequent research that we\u2019re thinking about doing a special segment in season 13, half of which features all the stuff that we\u2019ve learned about him because the research goes on.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tBut on the other hand, I\u2019ve had people who just said, \u201cHey man, thank you [I don\u2019t want to know more].\u201d People trust us. We\u2019ve never had [an information] breach and we send them all of their research because this is their story. We\u2019re not The Jerry Springer Show<\/em>. When I think about how to generalize those who drop out, it\u2019s because the party who, shall we say, made a complex decision within a relationship, is still alive.<\/p>\n

\nHow do you prepare for those conversations?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tI\u2019ve been a professor for almost 50 years, and I pride myself on using the classroom for difficult conversations, which prepared me for having these one-on-one conversations with people. One of my friends joked that I\u2019m the only Black man in the world who makes white people feel better about having owned slaves. But I\u2019m going to tell you something: The sad truth is everybody was guilty in the slave trade. Well over 90 percent of the Africans captured in Africa and shipped across the Atlantic were captured by African merchants and African elites. People don\u2019t want to admit that, but it\u2019s the truth. I also firmly believe that we are not responsible for the wicked things that our ancestors did. People\u2019s lives are complicated, and I don\u2019t think you should allow anyone, no matter what we find, to bully you about it. But on the other hand, there are amazing stories of triumph on everyone\u2019s family tree. At the beginning of an interview, I ask people, \u201cHow do you think your ancestry has shaped you? Do you think you\u2019ve inherited any traits from your ancestors?\u201d Five hours later \u2014 and really each of these shoots is five, sometimes six hours \u2014 I ask them the same question. In many cases, like T\u00e9a Leoni, when we found out her mother was adopted, we found her mother\u2019s birth mother and birth father \u2014 her birth mother was still living at the age of 98 \u2014 and then she connected with her half-siblings, and that was great. I hear from a lot of people saying thank you.<\/p>\n

\nIt was pretty great timing to have Delroy Lindo on this past season in the midst of his historic Oscar campaign. How far in advance do you book guests?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Read more Sarajevo Unveils Seven Projects Championed Through Female Filmmakers Support Program<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\tWell, I\u2019ve been a fan of his since Do the Right Thing<\/em> and I will say it\u2019s not an exact science. We get so much celebrity outreach of really big people desperate to do the show, and sometimes we can do all the research in six months \u2014 one person, it took five years because they had a DNA mystery, and the only way you could solve that is if the link is in one of the publicly available databases. We cannot watch the Oscars and then pick somebody and two months later they\u2019re on TV. On average, it takes six months at least to do the genealogical research.<\/p>\n

\nWho\u2019s on your guest wish list?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tBeyonc\u00e9, Taylor Swift and Madonna \u2014 but I want Taylor and her fianc\u00e9 [Travis Kelce]. I would like Clint Eastwood. I would love Jay-Z. I would love Gladys Knight. I\u2019ve had dinner with [Barbra Streisand] a couple of times and she has said, \u201cI\u2019ll do it, but I\u2019m not ready yet.\u201d<\/p>\n

\nHow is AI affecting the field of genealogy?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tThe real revolution was digitizing. All of those censuses, birth certificates, death records, marriage records are online. So you can do a lot of research just from your computer now, but there\u2019s always more research that can be done on the ground. I call [AI] my liquid encyclopedia. So rather than google stuff, I\u2019ll just type in, \u201cTell me about so-and-so.\u201d And that\u2019s how we use it for research. But you can\u2019t say, \u201cGive me the family tree of the pope.\u201d I can imagine that you\u2019ll be able to ask it, \u201cGive me the records of every child born in Honduras in 1819.\u201d You can\u2019t do that right now, but I\u2019m sure that it\u2019s coming. It will only enhance research.<\/p>\n

\nWhat has it meant to you to do this work now for 20 years, dating back to the PBS series African American Lives<\/em> in 2006?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tWhen I conceived the series, I swear to God, it never occurred to me that we\u2019d be doing anyone other than African American people. I wanted to give them their buried roots, their lost history because of slavery. But by 2009, I realized everybody has a hidden family history because we are a nation of immigrants \u2014 our African ancestors were unwilling immigrants, but they came from elsewhere. I always tell my guests a quote that one of my heroes, Stephen Hawking, gave in a lecture at Harvard in 2016: \u201cIt is the past that tells us who we are. Without it, we lose our identity.\u201d He was talking about the age of the universe, but it\u2019s true for each of us as individuals, and what we are doing is giving every guest on Finding Your Roots<\/em> their lost, complex past.<\/p>\n

\nThis story first appeared in a June stand-alone issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe.<\/em><\/p>\n

Read more Casey LaLonde, Grandson of Joan Crawford, Dies at 54<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u2018Finding Your Roots\u2019 Henry Louis Gates Jr. explains how the PBS series navigates shocking ancestry revelations and guest privacy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2182,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[245,826,827,1806],"class_list":["post-2183","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting","tag-awards","tag-emmy-awards","tag-emmys-2026","tag-finding-your-roots"],"yoast_head":"\nWhat Happens When \u2018Finding Your Roots\u2019 Uncovers a Famous Family Secret Too Big to Air? - US Property Moves<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=2183\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What Happens When \u2018Finding Your Roots\u2019 Uncovers a Famous Family Secret Too Big to Air? - US Property Moves\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u2018Finding Your Roots\u2019 Henry Louis Gates Jr. explains how the PBS series navigates shocking ancestry revelations and guest privacy.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=2183\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"US Property Moves\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-20T17:36:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/?p=2183#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/?p=2183\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/f6dcb1ef8e64fe67b72b772b81aa822c\"},\"headline\":\"What Happens When \u2018Finding Your Roots\u2019 Uncovers a Famous Family Secret Too Big to Air?\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-20T17:36:09+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/?p=2183\"},\"wordCount\":1365,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/?p=2183#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/6c400325149bb840c611126283122a51.webp\",\"keywords\":[\"Awards\",\"Emmy Awards\",\"Emmys 2026\",\"Finding Your Roots\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Interesting\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/?p=2183#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/?p=2183\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/?p=2183\",\"name\":\"What Happens When \u2018Finding Your Roots\u2019 Uncovers a Famous Family Secret Too Big to Air? - US Property Moves\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/?p=2183#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/?p=2183#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/6c400325149bb840c611126283122a51.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-20T17:36:09+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/f6dcb1ef8e64fe67b72b772b81aa822c\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/?p=2183#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/?p=2183\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/?p=2183#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/6c400325149bb840c611126283122a51.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/6c400325149bb840c611126283122a51.webp\",\"width\":1296,\"height\":730},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/?p=2183#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"What Happens When \u2018Finding Your Roots\u2019 Uncovers a Famous Family Secret Too Big to Air?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"US Property Moves\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/f6dcb1ef8e64fe67b72b772b81aa822c\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"What Happens When \u2018Finding Your Roots\u2019 Uncovers a Famous Family Secret Too Big to Air? - US Property Moves","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=2183","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"What Happens When \u2018Finding Your Roots\u2019 Uncovers a Famous Family Secret Too Big to Air? - US Property Moves","og_description":"\u2018Finding Your Roots\u2019 Henry Louis Gates Jr. explains how the PBS series navigates shocking ancestry revelations and guest privacy.","og_url":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=2183","og_site_name":"US Property Moves","article_published_time":"2026-06-20T17:36:09+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"7 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=2183#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=2183"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f6dcb1ef8e64fe67b72b772b81aa822c"},"headline":"What Happens When \u2018Finding Your Roots\u2019 Uncovers a Famous Family Secret Too Big to Air?","datePublished":"2026-06-20T17:36:09+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=2183"},"wordCount":1365,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=2183#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/6c400325149bb840c611126283122a51.webp","keywords":["Awards","Emmy Awards","Emmys 2026","Finding Your Roots"],"articleSection":["Interesting"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=2183#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=2183","url":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=2183","name":"What Happens When \u2018Finding Your Roots\u2019 Uncovers a Famous Family Secret Too Big to Air? - US Property Moves","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=2183#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=2183#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/6c400325149bb840c611126283122a51.webp","datePublished":"2026-06-20T17:36:09+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f6dcb1ef8e64fe67b72b772b81aa822c"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=2183#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=2183"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=2183#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/6c400325149bb840c611126283122a51.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/6c400325149bb840c611126283122a51.webp","width":1296,"height":730},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=2183#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"What Happens When \u2018Finding Your Roots\u2019 Uncovers a Famous Family Secret Too Big to Air?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/","name":"US Property Moves","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f6dcb1ef8e64fe67b72b772b81aa822c","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/uspropertymoves.com"],"url":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2183","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2183"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2183\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2182"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2183"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2183"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2183"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}