Actress, Mackenzie Phillips has opened up about her 10-year incestuous relationship with her father, John Phillips, who was the front man of iconic Rock band, the Mamas & the Papas.
The One Day at a Time actress appeared on her sister Chynna’s YouTube channel last week where Chynna called their father ‘one of my favorite individuals in the whole wide world,’ but one who had had a ‘dark’ side.
‘Talk about complex, so many different levels to who he was,’ Chynna, who is married to Billy Baldwin, said.
‘Obviously, he’s an amazing songwriter. Genius,’ Mackenzie agreed.
‘I loved his laugh. Yet there was this whole other side to dad that was kind of, like, monster,’ Chynna continued, to which Mackenzie also agreed with.
The dark side of John Phillips
‘He had a very dark side,’ Mackenzie said, with Chynna agreeing: ‘He was so dark, and you just didn’t know who you were going to get, right? It was very unpredictable.’
Mackenzie claimed in her 2009 memoir, High on Arrival, that her father raped her on the night she married Jeff Sessler. She was 19 at the time.
Her struggles following the rape
Mackenzie went on to battle with a drug addiction and the sex with John became consensual for nearly 10 years.
During the podcast, Chynna took a moment to show Mackenzie support for speaking out about the unusual affair.
‘When I stood by you, I meant it with all my heart,’ Chynna said before showing her 2009 appearance on Good Morning America where she spoke about the family’s bombshell secret.
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‘I believed you and I want you to know that I was proud of you for coming out, even though it was painful for everybody.’
Online criticism
Mackenzie said that she faces backlash online for having ‘forgiveness in my heart’ toward her father, who died on March 18, 2001, of heart failure.
‘Forgiving is for me, not the other person. And forgiving doesn’t mean that I co-sign or agree with what I’m forgiving you for, or him for. It’s very complicated. It’s very, very complicated. And yet, I am at peace,’ she revealed.
