Mackenzie Phillips Details New Claims of Abuse by Father John Phillips

Mackenzie Phillips has shared new details regarding allegations of abuse against her late father, John Phillips, the musician behind The Mamas & the Papas. Phillips spoke on Valerie Bertinelli's podcast, "Get Naked," about a letter she received that she believes corroborates her claims.

Phillips described receiving the letter while working at Breathe Life Healing Center. She recalled a head of HR informing her about the correspondence, which she initially assumed was fan mail. "It was from one of the most credible sources you could ever know of a family friend saying that... their husband observed something horrific when I was nine," Phillips stated.

She recounted her brother Jeffrey's reaction to her disclosures, saying, "I don't want to know." Phillips expressed feelings of isolation, saying, "So I'm on my own again... I'm on my own in this nobody believes me." She added that those who had previously accused her of lying "already knew" the truth, but the letter provided her with external validation.

Phillips explained that the letter's content was "shocking, shocking." The author of the letter apologized for not coming forward sooner to support Phillips after her 2009 appearance on "Oprah," citing fear and uncertainty about how to proceed. The letter detailed what the family friend's husband had allegedly witnessed when Phillips was nine years old.

"I handed it to her, and she sat in the chair in my office, and she went, 'Oh my God, Mac.' And tears started pouring down her face," Phillips recalled of the director's reaction. "But she said, 'Mac, honey, it's time. It's time for you to dig even deeper.' It's time because now that you have this, you had a knowing all along, but now you have proof of being groomed from a very young age."

Phillips first detailed allegations of abuse in her 2009 memoir, "High on Arrival." In the book, she alleged that John Phillips raped her at age 19, stating, "I woke up that night from a blackout to find myself having sex with my own father." She described the subsequent intimate relationship as consensual and lasting for 10 years, during which she became pregnant and had an abortion. However, Phillips now views the relationship through the lens of abuse.

"I learned from my appearance on 'Oprah' and my book that – because I was calling it consensual because I was trying to protect him – there is no such thing as consent between a parent and a child," she told Bertinelli. "The power differential is is too great."

John Phillips died in 2001 at the age of 65 from heart failure. His death preceded the publication of his daughter's memoir. The revelations about alleged abuse have divided the Phillips family, though Mackenzie's half-sister Chynna publicly supported her.

John Phillips was a key figure in the 1960s folk-rock scene, known for his songwriting and arranging for The Mamas & the Papas. Some of his most famous works include "California Dreamin'," "Monday, Monday," and "San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair)."