Henry Louis Gates Jr. hosts the PBS series “Finding Your Roots,” which helps celebrities uncover family secrets. Kerry Washington, star of “Scandal,” discovered through the show that her biological father was not her dad, and that her parents used a sperm donor. Gates met Washington outside a hotel and helped her confront her parents about the truth. Washington found the revelation to be a “call to adventure” and wrote about the experience in her memoir. Gates also assisted Washington in finding the identity of the sperm donor. “Finding Your Roots” has revealed many identity-shaking revelations, with Gates using an ethics protocol before disclosing sensitive information. Season 11 of the show features guests like Melanie Lynskey, Lea Salonga, Sharon Stone, Chrissy Teigen, and Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard. Gates himself explores his own family mystery in the season finale. He believes that changing lives through the show is a great honor, as they bring the facts of genealogy to life through storytelling.
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Henry Louis Gates Jr. Remembers Assisting Kerry Washington in Revealing Family Secret
