Phillips: Family Response is "Devastating"
Mackenzie Phillips said her family members' reactions to her incest claim last week against her father, the late musician John Phillips of '60s super group The Mamas and the Papas, has been "devastating."
Mackenzie said on "The Early Show," "Don't get me wrong, I understand that my family doesn't want this played out nationally, but the people who are saying that I'm lying have known about it for such a long time. (They're) trying to discredit me in a public way to either protect the brand of The Mamas and the Papas or to protect the memory of (my father.)"
Mackenzie added, "I absolutely loved my father, but he wasn't a good man. He was deeply flawed."
Among those who question Mackenzie's claims are her former stepmother Michelle Phillips, who says in a statement to CBS News, "Whether her relationship with her father is delusional or not, it is an unfortunate circumstance and very hurtful for our entire family."
She also told Us Weekly magazine, "You should take with a grain of salt anything that's said by a person who has had a needle stuck in their arm for 35 years. The whole story is disgusting."
Michelle also told The Hollywood Reporter, referring to Mackenzie's claim she had an almost decade-long sexual relationship with her father, "I have every reason to believe it's untrue."
Mackenzie's half-brother, Tamerlane Phillips, weighed in last week, as well, saying, "I don't know if these allegations are true are not, (but) they're very surprising to me."
In Mackenzie's new memoir, "High on Arrival" and in televised interviews, the former child star alleges the relationship started out as rape but became consensual. Mackenzie also claims she got pregnant at one point and her father paid for an abortion, thinking the baby might be his.
Slideshow: Mackenzie Phillips
However, others believe Mackenzie's story, including her 29-year-old half-sister Bijou Phillips. Mackenzie said she told Bijou about the relationship with her father when Bijou was 13, but then took it all back when she got hysterical.
"Bijou is an extremely emotional girl. At 29, she's extremely emotional. But at 13, it was off the hook," Mackenzie said.
However, Bijou has supported Mackenzie in an interview on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" saying, "Well I believed her because, well first of all, who's going to go out of their way to say, 'Yeah, I had sex with dad?'"
"I backtracked. Look, I backtracked and I said, 'I'm sorry. ... It's not true. Yeah, I did to that to protect her."
"Early Show" co-anchor Maggie Rodriguez also pointed out the timing of Mackenzie's allegations -- after her father's death -- when John Phillips couldn't defend himself.
Why now?
"I wasn't ready to talk about this," Mackenzie said. "My son was a teenager when my father was still alive. My son is now a 22-year-old young man who is more able to handle something like this. I wasn't thinking about protecting my father. I was thinking about my family, my son, and when he would be prepared. And I didn't plan on writing a memoir that included incest, but when I sat down to write this book, I thought am I going to put out another sanitized version of my life? Why go there? Why go through writing a memoir about addiction if you can't actually address one of the reasons why the addiction was there in the first place?"
Mackenzie also disagreed with the way people are characterizing her, and her drug-filled past.
She said, "If you get a drug addict clean, you will have one of the hardest-working, most honest, best friends, who are so capable and intelligent. I think that is a big misconception. Because you're clean and you're living the life that you were meant to live in the first place. And why would I put myself in this position?"
Mackenzie countered claims that she's trying to look like a victim or sell her new book.
She said, "They can say whatever they want. I think my truth stands on its own."
Mackenzie said she has been off drugs for over a year -- ever since her arrest and rehabilitation last August.
Phillips asserts her father introduced her to cocaine. He died in 2001 after a lifelong battle with drugs and alcohol.
Mackenzie said she's received thousands of responses to her story.
She said, "There's so many addicts that are survivors of incest, and they're just afraid to speak. And maybe now they can have a voice. We can have a voice."
Copyright 2009 CBS. All rights reserved. Mackenzie said on "The Early Show," "Don't get me wrong, I understand that my family doesn't want this played out nationally, but the people who are saying that I'm lying have known about it for such a long time. (They're) trying to discredit me in a public way to either protect the brand of The Mamas and the Papas or to protect the memory of (my father.)"
Mackenzie added, "I absolutely loved my father, but he wasn't a good man. He was deeply flawed."
Among those who question Mackenzie's claims are her former stepmother Michelle Phillips, who says in a statement to CBS News, "Whether her relationship with her father is delusional or not, it is an unfortunate circumstance and very hurtful for our entire family."
She also told Us Weekly magazine, "You should take with a grain of salt anything that's said by a person who has had a needle stuck in their arm for 35 years. The whole story is disgusting."
Michelle also told The Hollywood Reporter, referring to Mackenzie's claim she had an almost decade-long sexual relationship with her father, "I have every reason to believe it's untrue."
Mackenzie's half-brother, Tamerlane Phillips, weighed in last week, as well, saying, "I don't know if these allegations are true are not, (but) they're very surprising to me."
In Mackenzie's new memoir, "High on Arrival" and in televised interviews, the former child star alleges the relationship started out as rape but became consensual. Mackenzie also claims she got pregnant at one point and her father paid for an abortion, thinking the baby might be his.
Slideshow: Mackenzie Phillips
However, others believe Mackenzie's story, including her 29-year-old half-sister Bijou Phillips. Mackenzie said she told Bijou about the relationship with her father when Bijou was 13, but then took it all back when she got hysterical.
"Bijou is an extremely emotional girl. At 29, she's extremely emotional. But at 13, it was off the hook," Mackenzie said.
However, Bijou has supported Mackenzie in an interview on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" saying, "Well I believed her because, well first of all, who's going to go out of their way to say, 'Yeah, I had sex with dad?'"
"I backtracked. Look, I backtracked and I said, 'I'm sorry. ... It's not true. Yeah, I did to that to protect her."
"Early Show" co-anchor Maggie Rodriguez also pointed out the timing of Mackenzie's allegations -- after her father's death -- when John Phillips couldn't defend himself.
Why now?
"I wasn't ready to talk about this," Mackenzie said. "My son was a teenager when my father was still alive. My son is now a 22-year-old young man who is more able to handle something like this. I wasn't thinking about protecting my father. I was thinking about my family, my son, and when he would be prepared. And I didn't plan on writing a memoir that included incest, but when I sat down to write this book, I thought am I going to put out another sanitized version of my life? Why go there? Why go through writing a memoir about addiction if you can't actually address one of the reasons why the addiction was there in the first place?"
Mackenzie also disagreed with the way people are characterizing her, and her drug-filled past.
She said, "If you get a drug addict clean, you will have one of the hardest-working, most honest, best friends, who are so capable and intelligent. I think that is a big misconception. Because you're clean and you're living the life that you were meant to live in the first place. And why would I put myself in this position?"
Mackenzie countered claims that she's trying to look like a victim or sell her new book.
She said, "They can say whatever they want. I think my truth stands on its own."
Mackenzie said she has been off drugs for over a year -- ever since her arrest and rehabilitation last August.
Phillips asserts her father introduced her to cocaine. He died in 2001 after a lifelong battle with drugs and alcohol.
Mackenzie said she's received thousands of responses to her story.
She said, "There's so many addicts that are survivors of incest, and they're just afraid to speak. And maybe now they can have a voice. We can have a voice."
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If you really want to know if Mackenzie is telling the truth, just read PAPA JOHN. In his own words John Phillips paints a portrait of himself that will leave little doubt that this man on drugs was capable of just about anything, Michelle's shrill denials notwithstanding.
Oh and it wasn't just Bijou who told Oprah that Mac had told her about the incest with their father (and then later denied it happened), sister Chynna Phillips confirmed that Mackenzie had also told her about it many years ago, and Chynna has said flat out that she believed it then and still believes that Mac is telling the truth. And if that's not enough, Jessica Woods, daughter of the late Denny Doherty (the other "Papa" in the Mamas and Papas) has spoken up and said, "Everything she said is true. My dad told me the awful truth. He was horrified at what John had done and knew all of it."
For that comment alone, is an insult to every recovered addict.
I wouldn't be too quick to believe that she is a "recovered addict".
If she has been an addict for 35 years, I don't think that 1 year clean is enough to call her "recovered".
For the commenters whose response to a girl being molested by her father is "The **** should have kept her legs closed" I wonder if that's what you tell your own kids.
That is EXACTLY what she should have done, KEPT HER LEGS CLOSED. I think that you are forgetting that Mackenzie was NO KID. She was 18 years old!
If he was an actual "child molester", he would have started years before, and I doubt that his other daughters would have escaped it.
Yes, IF he actually did have sex with Mackenzie,no matter what age, that was unforgiveable, but I'm not convinced. And I am not convinced that it was rape. If it was, it was only the first time. She went on from there saying "YES, DADDY". Now who in their right mind, at 18 years old, is going to say yes after being raped? And especially when it's your DAD! I'd be willing to bet that in her drugged up state, she said YES. If it was FORCED RAPE, she would have been hurting, and I heard no mention of that.
For all we know, she could have been the one that started it. Maybe she needed ALL his attention. Maybe she resented Michelle. Maybe she HATED Michelle and this was a way of getting even? Maybe writing this book is all about MONEY for her drug habit. The slimier it is the better it will sell. Maybe she wants back in the spotlight.
The fact that she has done all this AFTER his death, and there is no proof, and the fact that she was willing to cause her family so much embarrassment, says a lot about her.
I'll say it again, people need to take lie detector tests before being allowed to destroy other's reputations, and before bringing pain to those that are living.
In fact if it was me, I would be taking her to court and making her prove the accusations.
As to why would she wait to tell the story till he died? The most obvious reasons would be 1) so he could not contradict and 2) because she felt freed due to his demise.
If I was the victim and believed this to be true; I would consider the effect of this information on my family of origin, and would certainly have gone to them before going to the press. That lack of consideration in itself does not prove that this story is false, but it does bring into question the intentions of telling the story in this way at this time. Who knows, there may be other siblings with similarly devastating stories that could be harmed by the uncontrolled rush of questions and theories that will flow forth from the press.