Celebrities
Published December 1, 2023, 5:57 p.m. ET
Mackenzie Phillips opened up about her relationship with her father, John, in her 2009 memoir. Getty Images
Mackenzie Phillips is opening up about her 10-year incestuous relationship with her father, Mamas & the Papas frontman John Phillips.
The “One Day at a Time” actress appeared on her sister Chynna’s YouTube channel on Wednesday, where Chynna called her father “one of my favorite people in the whole world” but who had a “dark” side.
“Talk about complexity, so many different levels of who he was,” said Chynna, who is married to Billy Baldwin. “Obviously he’s a great songwriter.”
“Genius,” Mackenzie agreed.
“I loved his laugh. “And yet Dad also had a whole other side that was kind of a monster,” Chynna continued, with Mackenzie also agreeing.
“He had a very dark side,” Mackenzie said, and Chynna agreed: “He was so dark, and you just didn’t know who you were going to get, right? It was very unpredictable.”
Mackenzie Phillips and father John Phillips around 1981 in New York City. Getty Images The sisters talked about their childhood on Chynna’s (left) YouTube channel. YouTube/, Chynna Phillips Baldwin
Mackenzie claimed in her 2009 memoir “High on Arrival” that her father raped her the night she married Jeff Sessler. She was 19 years old at the time.
But Mackenzie continued to struggle with drug addiction and sex with John remained consensual for almost ten years.
On Wednesday, the sisters weren’t interested in rehashing all the details of what happened between Mackenzie and their father, but Chynna once again took a moment to show his support for Mackenzie for speaking out about the unusual affair.
“When I stood by you, I meant it with all my heart,” Chynna said before her 2009 appearance on “Good Morning America,” where she discussed the family’s bombshell secret.
“I believed you and I want you to know that I was proud of you for coming out, even if it was painful for everyone.”
John and Mackenzie Phillips pose during a drug rehab clinic at Fair Oaks Hospital in Summit, New Jersey on December 1, 1980. Getty Images
Mackenzie went on to say that she is facing backlash online because she “forgives in her heart” her father, who died of heart failure on March 18, 2001.
“Forgiveness is for me, not for the other person. And forgiveness does not mean that I sign or agree with what I am forgiving you or him for. It is very complicated. It’s very, very complicated. And yet I am at peace,” she revealed.
Load More…
{{#isDisplay}} {{/isDisplay}}{{#isAniviewVideo}} {{/isAniviewVideo}}{{#isSRVideo}} {{/isSRVideo}}
https://nypost.com/2023/12/01/entertainment/mackenzie-phillips-on-her-10-year-incestuous-relationship-with-dad-john/?utm_source=url_sitebuttons&utm_medium=site%20buttons&utm_campaign=site%20buttons
Copy the URL to share