Mackenzie Phillips Opens up About Her 10-Year Incestuous Relationship with Father John

By Erin Keller

Mackenzie Phillips reveals details of her 10-year incestuous relationship with her iconic father, John Phillips, the frontman of The Mamas & the Papas.

The “One Day at a Time” actress joined her sister Chynna in a candid conversation on YouTube where Chynna ruminated about their father’s pivotal role as a songwriter and the darker traits that unknowingly coexisted.

“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.

“He had a very dark side,” Mackenzie said, with Chynna concurring, “He was so dark, and you just didn’t know who you were going to get, right? It was very unpredictable.”

Mackenzie divulged in her 2009 memoir, “High on Arrival,” that her father assaulted her on her wedding night at the age of 19.

But Mackenzie would go on to battle with a drug addiction and the romantic relationship with John became consensual for nearly a decade.

In their recent conversation, the sisters refrained from revisiting the explicit details of the relationship. However, Chynna expressed her unwavering support for Mackenzie’s courage and public revelation of the unconventional affair.

“When I stood by you, I meant it with all my heart,” Chynna said before sharing her 2009 appearance on “Good Morning America,” where she openly discussed the family’s shocking secret.

Mackenzie revealed that she faces online criticism for holding “forgiveness in my heart” toward her late father, who passed away on March 18, 2001.

“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 disclosed.