Ken Burns defends himself after photo with Justice Clarence Thomas circulates

Acclaimed documentarian and longtime Democrat Ken Burns is distancing himself from controversial conservative Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas after a photo was published by ProPublica that showed the filmmaker posing with Thomas and late businessman David Koch.

In a statement to The Hollywood Reporter, the filmmaker’s spokesperson said, “Around 10 years ago, Ken was stopped and asked to take a photograph with a Supreme Court Justice and David Koch, who was a supporter of public television and would later provide some funding for his film, ‘The Vietnam War.’

“So he took the photo, as he has done with many, many others. Other than the taking of that photograph and innocuous pleasantries, that’s the extent of his contact with Justice Thomas,” the statement said.

The photo was first obtained by ProPublica for an article the publication shared on Friday. The article stated that Thomas participated in two donor events for the Kock Network an organization funded by the libertarian billionaires Charles and David Koch. Other than appearing in the photo stamped on the cover of the story, Burns was not mentioned in the investigative piece.

Following the circulation of the article and photo, Thomas and Burns have received heaps of backlash. Burns is a decades-long donor to the Democratic Party, and left-leaning people have questioned his politics after the photo was published. As for Thomas, political and legal experts are disgusted with the implications that Thomas participated in Koch donor summits and the political network which has appeared before the high court in multiple cases, including one of the most highly anticipated of the upcoming term.