Allegations of Sexual Relationship With Daughter
In September 2009, John's daughter Mackenzie Phillips stated in a memoir, High on Arrival, that she and her father had a ten-year incestuous relationship. She stated that the relationship began when she was 19 years old in 1979, after Phillips raped her while they were both under the influence of heavy narcotics on the eve of her first marriage.
Mackenzie appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show on 23 September 2009, in which she told Winfrey that her father injected her with cocaine and heroin. According to Phillips, the incestuous relationship ended when she became pregnant and did not know who had fathered the child. These doubts resulted in an abortion, which her father paid for, "and I never let him touch me again."
Chynna Phillips, Mackenzie's half-sister, stated that she believed Mackenzie's statements and that Mackenzie first told her about the relationship during a phone conversation in 1997, approximately 11 years after the supposed relationship had ended. Jessica Woods, the daughter of Denny Doherty, said that her father knew of the relationship.
Bijou Phillips, Mackenzie's other half-sister, said in a statement that Mackenzie had informed her of the relationship when Bijou was 13 years old, but also stated, "I'm 29 now, I've talked to everyone who was around during that time, I've asked the hard questions. I do not believe my sister. Our father is many things, this is not one of them."
Geneviève Waïte, Bijou's mother and John's wife at the time the abuse allegedly occurred, denied the allegations and said they were totally opposite of his character. Michelle Phillips, John's second wife, also stated that she had "every reason to believe untrue."
Read more about this topic: John Phillips (musician)
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