Controversial previous of J.Lo, Affleck ‘plantation-style’ wedding ceremony venue

Ben Affleck tried to promote his sprawling Greek Revival “imitation” plantation — the positioning of his elaborate wedding to Jennifer Lopez Saturday — three years after revelations surfaced that considered one of his ancestors was a slave-owning Georgia sheriff.

In 2015, the Hollywood actor tried to suppress details about Benjamin Cole, a relative on his mom’s aspect who owned a number of slaves in Chatham County, close to his 87-acre Hampton Island property. Affleck bought the property in 2003, in keeping with experiences.

The revelations about Cole had been made on PBS’s “Discovering Your Roots” hosted by Harvard College professor Henry Louis Gates Jr.

Affleck put the lavish property, which features a deep water port and a 6,000-square-foot dwelling generally known as “the Huge Home,” available on the market for $8.9 million in 2018. He lowered the value to $7.6 million the next yr earlier than taking it off the market, property information present.

In-built 2000, the property was designed by Atlanta-based architect James Strickland to resemble a southern plantation. It additionally features a 10,000 sq. foot visitor home and equestrian services.

Actors Blake Energetic and Ryan Reynolds courted controversy after they wed at a plantation fashion dwelling. An knowledgeable on slavery mentioned she was shocked that Affleck and Lopez determined to have such a splashy wedding ceremony at a plantation-style dwelling.

“When he found who his ancestors had been he tried to squelch it,” mentioned Leslie Harris, co-editor of “Slavery and Freedom in Savannah” and a professor of historical past at Northwestern College. “It’s clear he didn’t be taught his lesson. We’re again on the similar place with him. Folks nonetheless construct homes which might be plantation fashion. It’s an indication of wealth. It’s stunning that Affleck would select this place for his wedding ceremony when many (historic) plantations have stopped even having weddings.”

There have been greater than 46,000 plantations in operation in 1860 within the American South, and almost 4 million slaves within the U.S., with 2.5 million within the “Cotton Belt” alone. Right this moment, there are about 375 plantation museums within the U.S., most of which don’t maintain weddings, according to a report. 

Many main wedding ceremony companies have taken steps to distance themselves from the plantation venues. In 2019, a number of wedding-planning websites like Pinterest, The Knot, and Zola, pledged to stop promoting plantation weddings and utilizing language that romanticizes them.

Affleck mentioned he fell in love with the realm whereas filming “Forces of Nature” with actress Sandra Bullock within the late Nineteen Nineties. He purchased the property for $7.11 million, in keeping with public information.