Mackenzie Phillips To Oprah (VIDEO): My Father "Tried To Make It A Romance"

Mackenzie Phillips told all to Oprah on Wednesday. She said she and her father John had a longterm consensual incestuous affair, that began with a drug-fueled rape. Her book "High on Arrival" also details it. The last time he touched her was when she found out she was pregnant, ten years into their sexual relationship, and she had an abortion.

But prior to that, when they were in a hotel in Hawaii while out on tour, Mackenzie says her famous dad wished aloud that they could run away together and raise Bijou and Tam (Mackenzie's younger half-siblings with whom she shares her father) and Shane (Mackenzie's son) as their own.

She talked about her repulsion at his attempt to romanticize their relationship,

"You begin to love your captor, and I felt great love for my father. The moment that he tried to make it a romance, all the sudden, it was like being shot into present time."

That was the beginning of the end. She wound up pregnant, not knowing who the father was.

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Comments

[yphili184]

Its kind of a low blow to besmirch some ones reputation when they are dead. He cant come back and defend himself . This is a private thing that should have been dealt with a therapist not in the public eye. I agree with Michelle. You have to look at some ones character, if they seem like they fit the personality of some one who would commit a certain kind of crime. I don't know about John(although I love his music) but Michelle does not strike me as the type of person who would let that happen to her daughter, so I cant say whether it happened or didn't happen or whether it happen as Mackenzie described it. But it makes me suspicious. it seems every body who is trying to sell something and wants a little media coverage is willing to do anything for it.

[Marnieblue]

she came to this in her own time. Leave her alone. Americans are so judgmental. Everything is not for greed.

[happymom]

"ABC News reports that since Phillips’ public admission on the Oprah Winfrey show this week, the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network (RAINN) has seen a 26 percent jump in its hotline calls and an 83 percent increase in traffic on its Web site."

Well it looks like McKenzie's public confession is helping MANY, MANY victims! Hoooorrraaay!! Thank you Oprah. May the dialogue continue! We need to keep the pervs. squirming as education is the key.

[HazerX]

Prove it.

[HazerX]

"It's nauseating. Someone doing that to their daughter — even notoriously addicted John Phillips — shatters everything sacred about a parent-child relationship. It's sad that someone can be that sick.

Question of motive

But it's also sad Mackenzie Phillips went public with her story to sell a book, and will profit nicely, because America seems unable to turn its collective head from even the most awful train wreck.

I'm not saying Mackenzie's claim, or anyone with a similar story, should be ignored. The only way to end this sort of abuse is to shine a light on it. But doing it at $25.99 a pop raises questions."

http://www.contracostatimes.com/columns/ci_13411505



BTW - How much of the money from her book sales is going to help other victims?

Zero.

[HazerX]

"The idea she's doing this to help other people just doesn't cut it. It might actually do so, but if that's her motivation, she should have done this years ago. She should have gone on a speaking tour or worked with various women's groups. Her father, whom she says she forgave on his death bed, has been gone since 2001. For eight years she hasn't had to worry about him suffering more shame, not that he wouldn't deserve it. It's only normal she would wait until he's gone. But she's had nearly a decade to say something. "


Oh yeah, did I mention while on Oprah she didnt hesitate to remind you all WHEN The book goes on sale. Yeah she was on top of that.

And one more time, how much of the book sales will go to help other victims?

[ShambalaMountain]

She makes me miss Michael Jackson... sigh....

[inorbit]

I think this falls under "Too much information."

[happymom]

No, I think this falls under, "Let the games begin" on the competition between educating America and the pedophiles. The pedophiles want McKenzie, Oprah and the rest of the abuse victims silenced, but they are going to lose.

[eccat]

I think it took a lot for Mackenzie to do what she did. She is facing her demons, she got help for her addiction through a program called Narconon and now she is trying to help others with similar issues. Instead of putting her on trial we should be supporting her and focusing on the positive.

[SarenaX]

Oprah was so damned COLD about it all. SHE should have been real about the subject and
not try to sweep her own incest under the rug during this interview.

[toocoldout]

Oprah brought out Valerie Burtenali to show the warmth. That was the best part.

[happymom]

Just remember Oprah has been burned before. I think she was trying her dead level best to be cautious. Just the fact that she had her on the show was a risk in and of itself. I don't think she wanted to come across like her biggest fan (just because of her own abuse), just in case she was fabricating the whole thing, which now we KNOW she wasn't. But Oprah deserves kudos, not criticism for taking the risk.

[CaveatLector]

Interesting. I noticed Oprah's aloof demeanor as well. Upon further reflection, I think it was totally appropriate. She was a blank canvas against which MacKenzie's story could be painted; stark, real, all by itself.

Oprah didn't mix up the boundaries between her own painful past and MacKenzie's; in remaining somewhat 'neutral' she lent neither creditbility or doubt. She was just there; a perfect interviewer. We are all so used to the Glenn Beck's of the world, coloring every fact with their own seething emotions that we forgot what the function of a true journalist/newsperson is....to deliver the story objectively. Kudos to Oprah.

[rf dude]

She was never a guest star on " All In The Family" during her TV "career"...
--

[Ergon]

I think she deserves alot of pity and compassion.

[invirginia]

Hey, Mackenzie, "Who's your daddy?"

[happymom]

What are you trying to say exactly with this question?

[invirginia]

Just being a bit crass. Mea culpa.

[MrsPeel]

Beneath contempt.

[invirginia]

Ok, mackenzie. Enough details already.

[mirandawilde]

Ok invirginia. Enough colossal stupidity already.

[Leigh49]

Another burned-out, junkie actress trying to get attention. Why else would you reveal such family secrets to the WORLD? That is, if this is true.

[Pearlswan]

Perhaps she wants to help others who have been victims feel they are not alone and not the only ones its happened to so they won't be afraid to take action to stop it? Sometimes the best self-interest is an interest to help others more than yourself, wouldn't you agree?

[happymom]

Well said.

[emstrem]

Agreeed!!! Of course she waits until her dad is dead to say something like this to where he cannot defend himself. Does she want this book to sell that badly? What a head-case.

[mirandawilde]

Well, I'm not hoping this will happen to you, but if in your next lifetime your father turns you on to drugs and then rapes you for his own selfish purposes when you are 19 years old, I'm just going to guess that it's NOT going to be the easiest thing to come out and tell your story. HE was the coward in his actions, not her. By telling her story she is now helping millions of people who are in families and situations with similiar boundary issues. It's obvious by looking at her face that this is extremely painful for her and she still cares for her father very much. This has NOTHING to do with money, but I'm hoping that she does indeed profit so that she can afford the therapy she needs to help her put her life back together. It's actually amazing that she is still alive after what her father put her through, and it appears he was grooming her from a very young age by exposing her to drugs (and god knows what else) when she was only 10 years old.

[EZD]

I feel for this woman and it explains alot about her problems with drugs...but you people should understand she does not deserve understanding or support from many people in this country, because she is not a card carrying Rethug.

[skullman]

Rethug? I happen to be very liberal, but its not about politics for me. I happen to be skeptical of the story, at this time. If more evidence comes out that it actually happened, I'll condemn John Phillips too. But he is dead and he's not going anywhere, and he can't hurt anyone now, so I'll wait and see if anything else comes out.

[Hoverman]

I do feel sorry for her,she is a very trouble person,but when I hear she is pushing her new book I wonder whats true and whats not.

[mirandawilde]

Those of you who jump to the conclusion that this is about money are saying far more about yourselves than you are about MacKenzie.

[skullman]

Then she should donate all of the money that she makes from the book to a charitable organization for victims of incest. That would be a step in the right direction, and make her more credible to me.

[HazerX]

Really? This allegedly happened over a decade ago. She didnt speak about it publically (h e ll who would?), but then the DAY BEFORE her "new book" is released, she hops on Oprah and tells the world.

Sorry, all the fuss you make isn't gonna make that NOT suspect to me. Cry as you might, if she wasn't selling a book, we wouldn't be discussing this at ALL.

Its all about book sales. If it did happen, I feel sorry for her too. But the fact remains she's selling a book, and misery loves company, so.

[MrsPeel]

Absolutely.

[HazerX]

Oh yeah? So what does it say about you? What does it say when ppl like you defend ppl like her when SHE did NOTHING to remove her 13 yr old sister from the presence of this monster.

Here she is being allegedy raped by her father (she's a grown adult) and she doesn't inform the authorities? She leaves her (admittedly HOT sister) with this man.

Defend that will ya? Tell us all how she wasn't in her right mind and it was no responsibility of hers to remove her SISTER from being with this monster.

I have zero sympathy for this woman, or any of you sitting here defending her CRIMINAL actions.

[happymom]

When people defend the abusers in these situations, or post hundreds of comments over and over saying the same accusatory things about the victims with no sympathy, you have to wonder how close they are to this situation or what they are hiding in their own closets.

McKenzie has a lot of courage and deserves our respect. By telling her story, as difficult as it is to hear, she will give many women courage to come forward and break their silence and get the help they deserve.

[skullman]

I haven't seen anybody defend an abuser. Are we not allowed to be skeptical of this story without being accused of defending abusers?

[HazerX]

She'll get none of my respect.

She came on National Television the day before he new book was released to spill beans that really is NO ONES business. And she did just to sell her book.

Respect that all you wont. I will not, and nothing you say is going to change that. Go ahead and try.

[happymom]

Well HazerX- you don't need to show respect to her, although she deserves it just as any other human being, but you CAN at least be kind.

[happymom]

Skullman-- just go read TopJack's rude and nasty comments. You have every right to be skeptical and state your case. But when a person goes public, revealing a story that indicates they were a potential victim (I say the word "potential" for your sake, because I personally have no doubt she IS/WAS a victim) of abuse they deserve human dignity and respect.

[HazerX]

I have no doubt it happened.

I also have no doubt she's telling the world to SELL A BOOK. I will not dignify that with respect.

Sorry. That doesn't make me a bad person, it doesn't mean I'm attacking her. It means she's telling the world to sell a book. Simple.

[cucumber]

you hit the nail on the head.