• Mackenzie Phillips alleged that when she was 18, she woke up from a drug-induced blackout and found her father having sex with her
• She continued to be involved in an incestual relationship with her father until she was 28
• Despite the disturbing nature of the allegations, Mackenzie has chosen to forgive her father and be at peace with her decision
Here is what happened:
Content warning for sexual assault and incest. Mackenzie Phillips has recently admitted to her father raping her when she was 18 years old. She explains that it continued for a period of ten years. In her 2009 memoir, High on Arrival, Phillips described waking up from a blackout to discover her father engaging in non-consensual sex with her. Phillips tied him to her for life as he introduced her to drugs at an early age. These allegations have caused months of criticism from the online community but also drew compassion from others.
Phillips personal struggle with her father’s addiction had influenced her own behavior and she attributes her issues with drugs and alcohol to his absence in her life and a desire to gain his favor. As a result, in her book she details her own addiction and the attempt to get his attention by anything she could do to appease him. However, while she details being constantly on the search to get his awareness, she has come forward to state that by forgiving her father, she has been released from the hold of the abuse that she has suffered.
John Phillips was a complicated figure and at times his behavior was as destructive to those around him as it was to himself. His ability to manipulate was well known and acknowledged by the partners in his life including his ex wife Michelle Phillips. He was also abusive and was known to use drugs with his children, including introducing Mackenzie to drugs. This behavior culminated in Mackenzie’s revelation that her father raped her when she was just 18 years old, causing a dramatic shift in the way she and the public viewed her father’s parenting.
Mackenzie Phillips has since accused her father John Phillips of doing inappropriate things with her. She has since stated that she no longer gets led by her own struggles, addiction, and hardships that she faced that arose from her father. Phillips has chosen to forgive her father. Her selection of forgiveness is for her own inner peace, rather than for her father’s benefit.
