The first thing to diagnose is what is actually in the database (use PHPMyAdmin or CLI).
You will of course either find that the backslash is either in the database or not.
If the backslash is in the database you probably have magic quotes gpc/runtime on and/or are calling the "addslashes()" function which does this.
If you are escaping your data with mysql_real_escape_string() then think again, you probably have magic quotes gpc enabled either in php.ini or in an .htaccess
Most people will remember to check php.ini, but what if there is an old htaccess or one you did not remember.
In my case here is what I found:
php_flag magic_quotes_gpc off
php_flag magic_quotes_runtime on
Solution, turn off magic quotes runtime:
php_flag magic_quotes_gpc off
php_flag magic_quotes_runtime off
After that the problem should be solved.
Here is a thread where I think the answer may very well be mine in many cases.
mysql, php, adding, backslash, escaping, apostrophes, solutionthe, diagnose, database, phpmyadmin, cli, quotes, gpc, runtime, quot, addslashes, mysql_real_escape_string, enabled, ini, htaccess, php_flag, magic_quotes_gpc, magic_quotes_runtime,