For decades, Mackenzie Phillips said she lived with the pain of not being believed about her late father, John Phillips.
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she → say → father
Then an unexpected letter landed in her hands – and changed everything.
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letter → land → everything
Phillips opened up about a stunning letter from a longtime family friend that corroborated her claims of abuse by her late father during an episode of Valerie Bertinelli's podcast, "Get Naked."
uncertain
that → open → Naked
Phillips recalled receiving the letter while working at Breathe Life Healing Center.
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Phillips → recall → Center
"Head of HR comes in.
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Head → come → HR
And he says, 'Oh, you got a letter.'
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you → say → letter
And I said, 'Oh, wow.
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I → say → ?
Because, you know, we get fan mail there," she told Bertinelli.
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she → know → Bertinelli
"And I won't go into too much detail, but 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."
"And I said, ‘Jeffrey’ – my brother, you know – 'I want to tell you.'
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I → go → you
He said, 'I don't want to know.'
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I → say → ?
Nobody wants to know.
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Nobody → want → ?
Nobody wants to know, you know," Mackenzie said.
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Mackenzie → want → ?
I'm on my own in this nobody believes me.
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nobody → believe → me
"Here's the thing is that I told the people – that said that I was lying – back then," she added.
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she → tell → people
"They already knew.
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They → know → ?
But I got this letter."
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I → get → letter
Bertinelli asked Mackenzie how it affected her to find the courage to speak out only to have people not believe her.
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people → ask → her
"Well, there's an element of protecting the legacy of The Mamas & The Papas," she explained.
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she → be → Mamas
"I can separate the man from the music.
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I → separate → music
I know that this was like the perfect storm of drugs and alcohol and untreated mental health.
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this → know → drugs
"
"But I got this letter, and I'm sitting there reading it, and it was like shocking, shocking – the content," Mackenzie recalled.
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Mackenzie → get → it
"And this woman said, 'I'm so sorry I didn't come forward to support you while you were on "Oprah."
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you → say → Oprah
I didn't know what to do.
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I → know → what
But here's what happened.'
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what → happen → ?
And I'm sitting there.
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I → sit → ?
At the time, Mackenzie had the director of Breathe Life Healing Center read the letter.
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director → have → letter
"And I handed it to her, and she sat in the chair in my office, and she went, 'Oh my God, Mac.'
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she → hand → office
And tears started pouring down her face," she remembered.
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she → start → face
"I could feel nothing.
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I → feel → nothing
I just sat."
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I → sit → ?
"But she said, 'Mac, honey, it's time.
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it → say → ?
It's time for you to dig even deeper.'
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you → dig → ?
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,'" Mackenzie recalled.
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Mackenzie → have → age
Mackenzie alleged John had raped her at age 19 in her memoir, "High on Arrival," published in 2009.
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John → allege → 2009
"I woke up that night from a blackout to find myself having sex with my own father," she wrote.
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she → wake → father
"I don't remember how it started or, thankfully, how it ended."
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it → remember → ?
After the alleged rape, Mackenzie claimed the intimate relationship became consensual and lasted for 10 years before she became pregnant.
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she → allege → years
The incest stopped then, and she had an abortion, according to Mackenzie's memoir.
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she → stop → memoir
However, Mackenzie now views the relationship with her father differently.
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Mackenzie → view → father
"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.
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she → learn → Bertinelli
…and 5 more, not listed.
The Aporia
