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Mackenzie Phillips: "My Father Was Not a Bad Man"

Thursday – September 24, 2009 – 10:54am

 

Former child star Mackenzie Phillip is defending her father, 60s musician John Phillips, with whom she claims she had a decade-long sexual relationship.

"My father was not a bad man," she said on the Today show Thursday. He was a very sick man. And if anyone out there can possibly separate his body of work from his personal demons, I think that would be the honorable thing to do."

Mackenzie, 49, added that her father — with whom she says she also did drugs — "didn't set out to hurt me. He did the best with what he had. He was a damaged guy.

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She also clarified reports that their relationship — which she details in her new book, High on Arrival — lasted 10 years.

"At 18, I was molested. Then maybe three years later, I started waking up later with my pants down around my ankles," she said. "And then maybe two years after that, it became consensual."

"So to call it a 10-year relationship is not correct," she said. "This was a warped event that occurred over time."

Though she says she does not blame herself for her the incest, she says, "I believe I have some accountability for what went down afterwards."

She previously told Oprah Winfey she became pregnant and didn't know who had fathered the child. So she had an abortion, which her father paid for, "and I never let him touch me again.

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"Some of her family is standing by her.

Mackenzie's half-sister Chynna tells the new Us Weekly (on newsstands now), "I have pretty much come to peace with the fact that she's written this book and that it's been a cathartic experience for her."

But her step-mother Michelle Phillips has told Entertainment Tonight: "Mackenzie's drug addiction for 35 years has been the result of many unpleasant experiences. Whether her relationship with her father is delusional or not, it is an unfortunate circumstance and very hurtful for our entire family."

Despite the criticism, Mackenzie said on the Today show, "the outpouring  of support from other incest survivors has been phenomenal."

"This is a subject that is so incredibly taboo, as it should be, but there needs to be a dialogue about it," she continued. "The covers need to be pulled."

 

 

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  • October 04, 2009 - 10:05am Anonymous Says:

    Not a bad man. She enjoyed sex with her father for ten years. She could have stopped it, but it felt so good and she had drugs to help her cope. She should be ashamed. They both should be in jail.
  • September 27, 2009 - 10:30pm HelenaBennett Says:

    And, I agree with the Anonymous below who says that Mackenzie is deluded if she thinks her dad wasn't a bad man. He did set out to damage her, both with drugs, and with inappropriate sexual contact, and it's understandable that she does not wish to believe that. Just because someone is sick, doesn't mean we should only feel compassionate toward them.
  • September 27, 2009 - 10:26pm HelenaBennett Says:

    I am shocked at how much vitriol is directed at someone who is shining a light on a problem in many families, particularly when the family includes an addicted parent.
  • September 27, 2009 - 2:34pm Anonymous Says:

    Great, now she's defending incest and her father? This is why her sh*t sounds bogus to me. Many of her stories don't add up anyways, but to go out there and say, "My father was not a bad man" is a slap in the face to TRUE victims, because they would never forgive nor aknowledge the person that commited such heinous acts towards them. Would you defend your rapist? I sure in the hell didn't.
  • September 27, 2009 - 2:30pm Anonymous Says:

    Whether it's true or not, some things don't quite add up, but that's just me. How can you continue to lead on an incest life when you knew what was going on? Especially when the "relationship" became consensual? You finally said, "That's enough" when you found out you were pregnant? Hmmmmm.... Regardless if this is true or not, she sounds sick herself, and coming out and sharing it to the world isn't gonna help her mentally, it would be better to get the needed help to heal her as needed. I'm not saying she's a liar, but seriously, if you are speculating that you're father may be molesting you, especially at the age of 18 years old, there is more to do than you think, and that sure in the hell doesn't mean to sit around and let it continue to happen again and again, especially when you're 18 years old. I'm not blaming her, I'm just saying it's hard to clarify certain events when things just seem odd in a way in her stories.
  • September 26, 2009 - 12:20pm Anonymous Says:

    How does one find themselves in this position? It seems that some people seem to always blame the child. For some reason, we expect the child to "have more sense" or "just say no". It doesn't work like that. When you are faced with this type of situation what do you do? You are drug induced (at his hands I might add) and it's your father, the person who told you what to do and may still be telling you what to do, decides that he wants to have sex with his child? What goes on inside the mind of a pedophile? What happens when a father feels that its right to ruin and damage their offspring? How does the child/victim live with the event, themselves and the repurcusions once they "tell"? To me, any father that wants to have sex with his daughter is a pedophile -- no matter how old the child is because he is still the father. Some victims of child abuse turn to drugs and other dysfunctional behaviors, because they don't have the capacity to accept or process what is happening and when it ends, what has happened. Drug abuse can lead to a variety of dysfunctional behaviors and unfortunately I think this is what happened to McKenzie. Now that she decides to go public many are criticizing her because her father is dead and cannot defend himself. Well, oh well. McKenzie, tell your story! You should be able to free yourself! Your life has been affected by this and it is time for you to be able to live, drug free. You can have a better life. We never forget, we only deal with it. Consensual? Is it ever consensual? I don't believe it was consensual. I believe McKenzie -- I don't care if she was 18. Why can't victims of sexual abuse be believed? I hope that McKenzie recovers both from her drug abuse and from this experience. We must not stand in judgment if we haven't walked in her shoes.
  • September 26, 2009 - 8:15am Anonymous Says:

    He shot his own kid up when she was 10 then started abusing her sexually as a teen while she was passed out on drugs. I wouldn't be surprised if the abuse started much younger and she just doesn't realize it. I can't imagine why someone would inject drugs into a young child unless it was to violate them further. I disagree with Mackenzie. He was a bad man.
  • September 26, 2009 - 1:04am Catherine Todd Says:

    The truth does set you free. Mackenzie Phillips has shown many young girls the consequences of giving in to family members, fathers, older men or anyone who wants to take advantage of a situation especially one fueled by drugs and alcohol. I applaud her courage and hope more women come forward with their truths. This could change the world. It's time to stop sweeping incest under the rug, no matter what the age or story.
  • September 25, 2009 - 11:04pm Anonymous Says:

    Whether "true" in any form or no, I "dont get it" i.e., why now, why public,etc..., I'm just delighted that themajority of comments see her has the deranged, manipulative skank-junkie that Mac & cohorts are about. Enuf.
  • September 25, 2009 - 9:17pm Anonymous Says:

    Aerosmith, if the word no was always successful, sexual assault wouldn't exist. also an unconscious can't say no which she obviously had to have been if she used to wake up with her pants down until the sex became consensual. I doubt she is lying. Seriously, who the hell would lie about having consensual sex with their father?. Then there's the step mother that he was married to at the time who said that she used to complain to John about Mackenzie being overly familiar with him and he wrote it off as that's just Mackenzie.
  • September 25, 2009 - 8:50pm Michele Says:

    This happened to a friend of mine in Junior High school. She came to school crying one day and we got the truth out of her. We all told our parents and nobody did a thing..... It was my first awakening to the real world.
  • September 25, 2009 - 8:46pm Aerosmith Says:

    child molestation at 18?? scuse me but its not molestation she could say no but didnt. and like that as 20 , 21, 23, and until she was 28?? you dont fool me! you dont get pregy at 28 if you werent before. meaning that she was taking the pill since day one! meaning its all a lie! she didnt knew who the father was? hmm hmm Then it sounds like she was doing other guys.. for me to see she get pregy wiht one of them and had her dad paying for the abortion. and he was open enough to do so! But she wasnt pregy with him nor doing him at all And after years of being a junkie she mixed it all up in her head and imagined it was her dad. her secret dream ot can lay her dad.. Thats you who is sick kenzie, not your dad! she is just another drug addict who had some bad trip for too long and ended up believing it. Like her being fcked by Mick jagger who said "i wanted to do you since you were 10!!" hello dude you've seen how you looks like??? and what Mick jagger could fc at that time?? I doubt very much this ever happened. You just took too many stuff and dont remmember your rigth hand from your left hand. Its all BS. That story she is telling is a lie. Cut the coke cut the hero an dcut ´smoking crystals. thats nto good for oyurmemory! you mix fantazy and reality. in oyur fantasy kick jagger desired oyu sooooo much he waited 10 long years ot can FIANLY do oyu! bahaha! wake up! you werenever molested and hare a shame and ascandal for lathose who wreally were! your so clalmolestation story start age 18,,. oh how convenient. We dont buy it!
  • September 25, 2009 - 8:01pm Candace Says:

    For those who don't believe this story, I would like to invite you to educate yourselves on this subject. This is a very complex topic and, the more you know about it, the more you can believe that something like this actually COULD occur. The payoff of learning more could be that you recognize the signs in someone you love and care about and could save them from years of numbing out (aka: drug abuse) to cope with it. If we can face these things, instead of blaming the victim, we can all heal and prevent these acts from happening to anyone we love.
  • September 25, 2009 - 7:18pm Anonymous Says:

    She's just a strung out druggy....and if it did happen , she was a legal adult....ewwwwwwwwwwww...liar drug addict out to make some money ...for more drugs of course
  • September 25, 2009 - 4:22pm Anonymous Says:

    Without first hand knowledge it is hard to know for certain whether Mackenzie is the victim of incest and abuse or whether we are once again seeing her need for love and acceptance satisfied with the perverted substitute of the general public's insatiable desire to bear witness to a tragedy. As someone who early in life learned to substitute fake for real, Mackenzie may no longer have a clear line of separation between the two.
  • September 25, 2009 - 2:07pm Anonymous Says:

    I don't believe her at all - all the drugs she was into. And why bring it up now - who cares!!!!
  • September 25, 2009 - 1:07pm Anonymous Says:

    JON GOSSELIN IS THE TYPE THAT WILL MOLEST HIS DAUGHTERS..HE IS SHOWING ALL THE SIGNS...KATE SHOULD GET FULL CUSTODY AND JON SHOULD ONLY GET SUPERVISED VISITATION. JON GOSSELIN IS A SEX CRAZED FREAK!!
  • September 25, 2009 - 10:58am Anonymous Says:

    It's sad that rape to a teenager can mess so much with their heads to make them think it's okay. I feel for this woman, she didn't know better. Her father is a monster in my eyes, a freaking predator.
  • September 25, 2009 - 10:15am Night Says:

    This pathetic woman is a victim of the worst parenting possible. I do not think she will ever be OK. She ALWAYS acts as though she is high on something and will be in the news one day dead from it. She is pathetic, and her parents should have been in prison.
  • September 25, 2009 - 8:03am Really? Says:

    Something isn't right about this story! Why now? I don't trust this woman. She did way too many drugs!

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