Bijou Phillips, MacKenzie's Half-Sister, Knew About Incestuous Affair At Age 13

From the AP:

CHICAGO -- Actress Bijou Phillips says she knew her half-sister Mackenzie Phillips had consensual sex with their father, Mamas and the Papas leader John Phillips.

In a statement read by Oprah Winfrey on her talk show Friday, Bijou Phillips says she was 13 years old when Mackenzie Phillips told her about the sexual relationship.

Bijou Phillips is now 29 and says the news was confusing and scary. She says it was "heartbreaking" to think her family would leave her alone with her father.

Appearing as a guest on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" Friday, Mackenzie Phillips said their father "had changed his ways as much as he was able to" and she felt Bijou Phillips was safe.

Mackenzie Phillips says she did go get her sister when she "felt like she wasn't being watched properly."

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Comments

[wilray]

I want to thank everyone who has wished me well on my health. I have a treat tomorrow. My Eastern European friend, Alex has a younger brother, Serge, who still lives in the area. I also think of Serge as a son. I haven't seen him for a few weeks, but he called tonight. He says that he will be bringing over pizza tomorrow and we can watch some DVDs,

Thank you again. My fellow Huff-Po blogospherians.

[ChelleAgain]

No problem-o :)

[RobinL]

Bijou's comments only make sense in the absence of a good mother. Surely her mother's denial and drug use hasn't helped her sort out her own life. So far, both step-mothers have batted zero in this situation. I am a step-mother and can't imagine handling this the way they have.

[SqueakEClean]

MacKenzie, you are putting a face on this love that http://wp.me/pChUJ-j dare not speak it's name.

[rubinoff]

sad on sooo many levels...just to think, there are so many decent people out here trying to have a family....these misfits should not pro-create, their gene pool is too effed up. :(

[ChelleAgain]

Gays own the term "love that dare not..." Also, the use of love in this context, I dunno.

[wilray]

I'm glad you recognize that. I believe Oscar Wilde coined the phrase.

[Calicoe99]

I'm sorry - I don't understand the context of your comment. Are you comparing sexual abuse and incest to gay and lesbian love?

[Chilblain]

If true,and it probably is, the whole thing is horrible. But it seems like a lot of folks are milking this for their own benefit. Deplorable.

[wilray]

Oddly enough, I think I do have a dog in this race after all. Because of the butterfly effect, MacKenzie's coming forth may help my friend, who I feel was abused by the system. It's a bizarre twist. On Saturday night my friend told me that people were being thrown off the system because of budget cuts. It's already happening in my state. Basically, people who are considered the least risk are being thrown out of prison and off parole. The more people that get put on the system, the more people they have to let off the system. I fully expect that MacKenzie's story will put more people on the system. It's truly an ill wind that doesn't blow someone some good.

[TequilaMockingbird]

,I too, really hope that happens Wilray.. That we as a Nation can have a real conversation about what actually constitutes abuse and what does not.. and based on what you have shared.... in NO WAY shape or Form does your friend meet even the minimum requirement for being labeled a sex offender.

The more we know about this pathology the closer we get to understanding the true nature of ongoing sexual abuses.

Whatever your opinion about MacKenzie Phillips motivation for writing this book.. one must admit that a long overdue conversation is taking place.. and what we can glean from it is this; Witnessing it is hard.. taking action is even harder and knowing what the proper action to take is the hardest thing of all.. but.. at some point we have to talk about it enough so that there is a sea change in the attitudes concerning these dark family secrets.. That we can talk about it on a level that is independent from our opinions concerning money and motivations.. If it is discussed enough then perhaps children will have the information and KNOW that what is happening to them is an Anathema to the Parent Child relationship and can help themselves and not be stuck waiting for an adult on the periphery to figure it out.

Take care of yourself Wilray.. Please don't neglect your health.

[wilray]

Thank you, for your concern. Sleeping helped, and my confusion seems to be abating, so today it's mainly escapist entertainment - for me it's therapeutic.

I know people may have thought I was against MacKenzie; I wasn't. I just don't believe in a rush to judgment. During the OJ trial, I found Mark Fuhrman's involvement to be particularly disturbing. I really couldn't fully make up my mind until after the trial was concluded. Yes, I believe OJ did it. With Michael Jackson, I actually reserved judgment until after his death. From my research, despite all the peculiarities of the cases, I firmly believe that Michael was framed. Not only that, I believe he was a true humanitarian. I also believe he was a victim.

Thank you so much for understanding about my friend.

[RationalityPlease]

"Consensual"? "Affair"? Between the headline, the words the article uses, and the comments here defending sexual offenders, I begin to realize our nation hasn't just lost its collective mind when it comes to politics... Chilling.

[FabulousAt52]

Actually, those are Mackenzie's words she used herself.. For a change the HuffPo headlines weren't so far off! Believe me, there have been some REAL doozies lately!

[happymom]

Another thought: A family riddled with abuse will often have a "family scapegoat." When things start to unravel and all the dirty, nasty secrets come spewing out, there is a need to find someone to blame. I think McKenzie has been the family scapegoat for all their problems for far too long and I really don't see anyone other than McKenzie taking ANY responsibility for anything at this point.

Again, I mean this sincerely, but I think it's appropriate to consider these things since the family seems intent on throwing her under the bus in some way. If they don't criticize her for a "consensual relationship," they criticize her for, "speaking out." Then it's, "Well, she didn't tell me soon enough before going public." Then it's, "Well, she didn't protect her little sister like she should have." Then it's, "Well, she was a drug addict." Then it's, "She is mentally ill." Then it's, "What about the grandchildren"? and on and on their criticism of her has gone-------it's all about us, us, us.

*****I don't hear any of her family members saying, "I'm sorry we weren't there for you like we should have been and that your life was ruined. I wish we would have helped you more." Nope. I'm just not hearing it and that is very sad to me------and I find it very telling.

[Calicoe99]

Excellent point, happymom. Probably a good mom, too :)

[PAposter]

You are absolutely correct, not one sign of compassion for a girl who had to be in great need of help, to consent to such an arrangement.

No one protected her then, and no one is supporting her now...they should all be ashamed of themselves...I'm proud of Mackenzie, this could not have been easy to share with the world.

Peace be with you Mackenzie!

[TequilaMockingbird]

exactly.. it is really unbelievable at this point at all of the onlookers crawling out of the woodwork to get their 15 minutes.. 'We Knew!! Interview Us" We all knew but it is still going to be Mackenzie's fault..

[TequilaMockingbird]

You are a much better person than I am HappyMom.. I find it to be more than very telling.. I find it to be nauseating.

[zahara2603]

Your words ring TRUE.

[ChelleAgain]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/trish-kinney/oprah-mackenzie-and-the-f_b_301650.html

[happymom]

Very good article.

[kerrickson]

As a former child actor from which my show "Hello, Larry" and "One Day at A Time" shared the same studio, I became a very close friend of Mackenzie Phillips and became an intimate friend and "adopted" family member of the Phillips family since the age of 17. I believe Mackenzie is telling the truth about a very horrifying time in her life. The rumors have circulated within the family for years. I am saddened that a daughter should have to remember her father in such a way, and also have to heal from something as emotionally crippling as incest.

However, the public confession by Mackenzie has caused irreparable damage to an already divided family. I hope Mackenzie will be as forthcoming with an apology to her stepmother, Genevieve Waite Phillips (mother of the two youngest children, who I helped raise), for testifying twice on John's behalf (against my personal pleading that she not when I visited her in Bolton Landing) during an ugly custody battle from 1985 to 1990 that took her daughter and placed the child in her father's unstable home. In light of what Mackenzie knew was going on between herself and her father, helping him have unrestricted access to another daughter would have been the last thing she would want to do.
Mac now claims she went and got Bijou which is not true. I did.

I wish healing and privacy for all the family and extended family during a very painful time.

Krista Errickson

[VOTER]

Thank you for your comment.

[VOTER]

Ms. Errickson,

I sincerely hope you'll write an autobiography.
Your runway modeling and acting career are very interesting but
I imagine your studies took you on some fabulous and
unbelievable adventures. Please tell us.
Best wishes.

[TequilaMockingbird]

Oh so anyone associated with the ordeal gets to write a book .. just not Mackenzie.. Dude you are Unreal.

[ChelleAgain]

I think it's troubling that she didn't do more for Bijou but, by her own admission, she was a really bad parent to her own child during his early years. It just seems like she was in a really horrible place emotionally and with her addictions.

Thank you. Ms. Errickson. I remember Hello, Larry well! It's wonderful that you're speaking out and, even while you have issues with the way Mackenzie Phillips handled herself at that time, are still here to express your belief in her allegations.

[ChelleAgain]

Was Genevieve in good shape at that point? Free of her own addictions? Not being snarky -- just recall some passages from Mackenzie's book that made her seem less-than-ideal as a mom, but that could have changed by that point.

[happymom]

I just don't see how blaming McKenzie for "getting real" about this deep, dark, yet known secret is in any way something for her to take "some responsibility" for. This was her story and she has every right to tell her story. It may be painful for others' who are close to the family to hear, but such is life (don't mean that coldly) when people experience such horrendous abuse and when a family is in the public eye.

I don't think those within the family or close to it could possibly imagine the twisted loyalty that comes amidst a warped father/daughter relationship such as this. It makes perfect sense to me that McKenzie would do such a thing (stand with the father), when no one was there to help her get "detached" from him either. I think the way you stated your post is re-victimizing the victim and I personally (although I know you'll disagree with all that I'm saying and that's fine) believe the parents in this situation are 100% to blame. McKenzie deserves to be free of harm or pain.

[happymom]

Anyone in the family who was/is older than McKenzie and who "heard these rumors" is to blame for not being forthright until now. McKenzie doesn't seem to have received the compassion or understanding or help she needed or deserved or she would have been in a better place much earlier than now. I think saying, "Yes this happened, but she owes so and so an apology" is holding out the "carrot and the stick" to an abuse victim, which is exactly what their abusers do to them their entire life.

No, I think the family owes McKenzie a BIG apology for covering this up, amidst the rumors and speculation that have obviously circulated for so long.

Again, I say this in a spirit of disagreement, not hostility. Just my perspective and attempt to once again defend a very hurt woman, who I think was severely damaged from the age if 10 (maybe even earlier) on.

[FloridaLady131722]

OH gosh! I am so sick of people acting as if they are SHOCKED by what this women is saying. It's going on right now ....SOMEWHERE. IT is not shocking to me. Uncles, bio-father's, step fathers, brothers, sisters, INCEST is real. I heard a lady on CNN yesterday that said, It was not Mackenzie's fault. Even when she was 28, it wasnt her fault. She was doing it since she was a kid.

[wilray]

I am in the middle of a bipolar episode, so I doubt that I will be posting much today. It becomes more complicated because I am also diabetic. The combination can be killer. But I do want to share something. Perhaps, it will help someone. I finally had a conversation that I wanted to have with a very dear friend. The conversation was very brief. Actually, we Google talked because he's not connected to the broadband at the moment. He lives in Eastern Europe. Basically, I needed to know if I was a bad person. He said, "don't even think about it." Basically, I needed to check to see if I had in fact been sexually abusive at some point myself. Life gets complicated. We didn't need to talk particulars, I don't need to have this conversation again. A month or so ago he invited me to his wedding. He has hinted that he wants me to be his best man. He was married earlier this year, but it was a basic ceremony. He wants to have a big family wedding, He is planning it for the fall of next year, so I have about a year to be able to afford the journey.

[happymom]

wilray--- your honesty and openness, even on this anonymous blog, is inspiring. I am so sorry for all you are going through-- even now as you walk through your complications. The wonderful thing about having these difficult and uneasy conversations is that sometimes it is the exact moment in our lives when we can release our own pasts once and for all and claim the future for what it is meant to be.

I don't think there is a person alive who does not have some negative history/mistake-making of their own from their past. I would hope Americans would have enough common sense to see when a person makes a "simple mistake," verses a person who is abusive through and through with no desire to modify their harmful behaviors. I think all humans are inherently good people, but our pasts shape who we are and sometimes that is devastating to come to terms with.

I have often wondered as I've posted the past few days what "history" lies behind the keyboard of the posters here. I guess we'll never really know, but may we all be inspired to live more compassionate, loving and generous lives toward all mankind. Everyone deserves a second, third, or even hundredth chance to start life again with no baggage or shadow looming overhead. Good luck to you on your journey. Peace.

[wilray]

I have mainly slept today. I haven't eaten at all today. I haven't had an appetite. I haven't taken any medications including my insulin or lithium. I am off schedule. After, I post this I will try to take care of myself. I did not initiate the incident that I mentioned of above. It happened. I only felt guilty later, when I thought about the fact that my friend needed my help at that time, which I freely gave. At that time, he was still very new to me. It may surprise people to learn that heterosexual men experiment. In fact, sexuality is actually a continuum. Men who are heterosexual doing engage with other men for their own reasons. I felt guilty for this simple reason, If he needed my help, he may have felt the need to do me a favor. All my other friends tell me how handsome he is. Although, I would agree, I don't have that type of interest in him. That is why I never broached the conversation. But when I finally did, he let me know that I have nothing to be concerned about. Any lingering guilt that I may have had is now totally lifted. BTW, I literally think of him as a son.

[happymom]

I was just thinking----maybe an altar call and a few stanzas of "I Surrender All" would fit this thread at this point---we're getting a little "Dr. Philish"----hahaha!:)

[SurrealPumpkin]

Based on your question I'm guessing a downer. Here's a hint to help you get through, bad people don't worry about being bad, they don't care. Try and find some quip to slap the "bad message" with every time it pops up. It's a learned idea, wilray, not an accurate assessment of your behavior or worth.

I'm also bipolar. It sucks! Keep the stress to a minimum. My Doctor told me not to watch television in the 2004 race. It helped. Better meds and I'm back on the political junkie list :)

[wilray]

Yes, a downer, and enough confusion for late term Alzheimers. I absolutely must keep the stress down. My friend has a very calming effect. When he was around, it's was practically impossible to have a bipolar episode. During the time he lived in this area, I had very few BPD episodes. When my confusion abates, I will watch some escapist entertainment - movies and television. That seems to help.

A few months ago I had an accident because of BPD confusion. I dosed myself with the wrong insulin. I gave myself way too much of fast acting insulin. 10 years ago, I did the same thing purposely. If I were more religious, I would say that I had a miraculous intervention. Because of some amazing circumstances, a friend save me. Because of how the doctors treated me in the hospital before, I realized what to do for my accidental overdose, I had to ingest as much sugar as possible and constantly monitor my levels. I survived, Next time though, I will just call 911. Doing it myself was way too hard.
You are fanned.

[TequilaMockingbird]

Dear Fabulous at 52.
Lady we get it.. You believe her but it was all her fault and she was just on the nod so therefore somehow conscious etc. Maybe she was wiggling around and encouraged him like.. ? I can see now all so clear thanks to your mental recreation of the events Miss Cleo.

Your point that you have belabored to the point of pointlessness is that it is somehow all her fault.. That the minute she turned 18 after growing up in a house with bowls of condoms and snack trays of smack she should have been whole and sane enough to go to University and become a Captain of Industry or at least had the decency to keep her filth to herself and not sully your beautiful mind with it..

[Calicoe99]

Right on, Mockingbird. Even worse - there are people who insinuate that drug addicts and others with problems are somehow less than human and deserving of justice or sympathy when they have been raped or abused. It is a very despicable attitude.

[freegobbie]

Ewwwwww.

[VOTER]

Today, Mackenzie said during an interview on CBS that she waited to publicize
her incest story until her son was in his twenties. He was her primary concern and she didn't
think he could handle the truth during his teenage years.
Fine.
Apparently Chynna's young children don't concern her.
Mackenzie's nephews, Jameson born in 2000 and Vance born in 2002.
Mackenzie's niece, Brooke born in 2004.

Thanks, Auntie Mackenzie.
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

[TequilaMockingbird]

across America a victim of abuse is reading your post and thinking.. 'Yeah my feelings are certainly not as Important as everyone else's and I better keep my mouth shut so I don't ruin everything for everyone else who already knows my life is ruined."

Chynna's happiness is more important why? because you think she is prettier?

[VOTER]

Talk about twisting.................
I never said Chynna's happiness is more important nor did I comment about her looks.
REREAD.
Why is Mackenzie's son's well being more important
than her young nieces and nephews.

Does Mackenzie need help in sorting through her traumatic and horrible
youth? Yes. She needs professional medical help and not a public relation firm
and agent.

When asked how she could help other victims, she said, "Read the book."
List Price: $25 +

[Calicoe99]

Love 'ya. You nail it right on the head.

[socalgal59]

I guess you missed that interview with Michelle Phillips talking about how damn mad she and Chynna are about the timing because of Chyanna's new album. They aren't in least concerned about Chynna's kids. Rather, they are concerned about how they are going to make the big bucks promoting Chynna's new album--to hell with Chynna's kids--they are concerned about making money. Michelle said Chynna's going out to promote her album with head held high. Nothing going to stand in the way of the almighty dollar.

Boy, you are so wrong in thinking that the adult Phillips have any values where the kids are concerned.

[VOTER]

Michelle did raise concerns for her grandchildren.

[jessicajuliette]

you know Voter, i think the timing is right on, this will set up her celebrity status for Celebrity Rehab 4 , coming to a tv near you this fall.....

[limber]

I think you're missing a key component here:

Mackenzie's son KNEW his grandfather, and likely had a relationship with him. To go public while her son was still in a phase of life when kids can be downright vicious little beasts to any kid who's "different" (especially given they could taunt him about maybe being the PRODUCT of incest) and also making a still-living bogeyman out of the boy's grandfather, is miles different from releasing a story about a man none of the children remotely remember.

And of course, there will always be a new generation coming in. If abuse victims are meant to wait until everyone in the family is an adult, they'll never tell at all, because there will always be new arrivals.

[VOTER]

No serious and criminal family issues should ever be hidden however
this doesn't mean everything has to become public.
Mackenzie's choice to go public without attempting to bring adult
family members together for group professional help is unforgivable.

And now you want to peg Mackenzie's son as special because he knew
his grandfather and might have suffered jeering from bully classmates
but the other young children will not suffer the same vicious teasing? Huh?

Mackenzie's revelation on television wasn't an Oprah moment to help others.
It was a Book Promotion.
So far she has yet to name any of the proceeds going to help victims
of sexual abuse.
I'm sure her Public Relations Firm and Agent are working on that missed
detail right now.

[stayinsouth1981]

Sounds like you are endorsing keeping abuse in the closet? I don't think that's the best way to stop it in the future.

[RobinL]

I honestly don't understand why Mackenzie's getting the sole rap for this. It was her FATHER who perpetrated the abuse. Your ascribing monetary motives to her is just your opinion, btw.

[chelroms]

i felt sad about this news... everyday i look at it, I felt sorry for their family...
http://www.techandgizmo.com