Celebrity News February 02, 2010
Mackenzie Phillips Says Sex with Father Wasn't Consensual
Actress Mackenzie Phillips talked about her sexual relationship with her father in her memoir "High on Arrival," but now the former child star wants the public to know the relationship was not consensual.
In an interview on "The Joy Behar Show," Phillips said, "I'd like to reframe my word consensual."
She continued, "As I was writing the book, I thought, this word, it kept sitting wrong with me. But I used it for lack of a better word. Since then, I've been schooled by thousands of incest survivors all across the world that there really is no such thing as consensual incest due to the inherent power a parent has over a child. So, I wouldn't necessarily call it a consensual relationship at this time."
Phillips appeared on the show with Dr. Drew Pinsky to talk about their VH1 show, "Celebrity Rehab." Dr. Drew said incest cannot be consensual.
"The child is trying to make sense of this situation she feels as though the only she can survive it is by saying, 'I'm creating it, I have some power in this, I'm consenting to it,'" Dr. Drew explained. "When the fact is, the kind of relationship a parent has with a child makes consent actually impossible."
In "High on Arrival," Phillips wrote about having sex with her father, John Phillips of the Mamas and the Papas -- including on the eve of her wedding. The secret relationship continued for 10 years.
