http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/Entertainment/20110318/mackenzie-phillips-book-110318/

CTV.ca News Staff

Date: Fri. Mar. 18 2011 12:10 PM ET

Charlie Sheen may think he's in control of his life and all his "winning" ways. But "One Day at a Time" star Mackenzie Phillips is not likely to agree.

"What we're really watching in a tragedy playing out in public," Phillips, 51, told CTV's Canada AM on Friday.

"There's something wrong. There's a screw loose somewhere," Phillips said.

Still, Phillips, a recovering substance abuser herself, sees great hope ahead for Sheen if he is willing to seek therapy.

"He has a long way to go. But it can be done," said Phillips.

"People are dying from abusing drugs. It's happening on every street corner and doctors have had a big hand in it," she said.

Best known for her roles in the seventies cult movie "American Graffiti" and "One Day at Time," Phillips's drug abuse made tabloid news over the last three decades.

That attention escalated in 2009 after the publication of Phillips' tell-all book, "High on Arrival."

In it, Phillips wrote of an incestuous relationship with her father, John Phillips, the singer of The Mamas & the Papas.

Phillips alleged that the "consensual" relationship lasted for 10 years, ending when the actress was 29.

The claims sparked a huge rift between Phillips and her step mother, Michelle Phillips.

The singer, songwriter and actress was the second wife of John Phillips. The couple married in 1962 and divorced in 1970.

She has adamantly denied stepdaughter Mackenzie's accusations, lashing out at Phillips with her own harsh words.

"It's incredibly unkind and graceless to say these things about a child you have had a hand in raising," said Phillips.

"I love Michelle. But I think she's come off as a little wacky. She's known the truth for many years. She's trying to discredit me to protect a brand, a legacy," she said.

Phillips has also lost contact with her siblings, including actress Bijou Phillips, singer Chynna Phillips, half-sister Tamerlane Phillips and brother Jeffrey Phillips.

"It's really sad. I love them very much," said Phillips.

Sister Chynna appeared with Phillips on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" in 2009 to show her support. The two have not communicated since that time.

"For that moment she supported me, which I will be forever grateful for," said Phillips.

"There was no event that stopped our contact. She just stopped answering my calls. But I have hope. I am an endlessly optimistic woman."

New writings, new role

Inspired by the late Elizabeth Edwards, Phillips has since added new material to her 2009 tell-all to reflect the events that have happened since the book's publications.

"A lot of people add gratuitous bonus material that means nothing. But this is a love letter to addicts and incest survivors who have come out since my book's release," said Phillips.

The actress is also making new strides with her acting career.

Phillips appears in the new indie drama, "Peach Plum Pear." In it she plays a kind-hearted bartender who befriends a troubled young man stranded in a small Nebraska town.

The role earned Phillips an Honourary Best Actress Award in 2011 at the 9th Annual Female Eye Film Festival, Ontario's only annual international independent film festival showcasing movies made by female directors.

Phillips said she's been through a lot of tough times in her life, but she's always had a lot to live for.

"You're either a survivor or you're not," said Phillips.

"I have a beautiful, 24-year-old son. I rescue animals. I work with dogs. I act," she said.

‘I have a lovely life."

Mackenzie is 100% correct and it is nice to see that she is getting her own life in order.

Yes...I just find it especially sad that she and Chynna have lost each other in the fallout from the book. After that notorious Oprah appearance in September 2009, Chynna went through rough times herself in the early part of 2010:

http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20445744,00.html

December 06, 2010
Vol. 74 No. 21
Chynna Phillips: Surviving My Breakdown
By K.C. BAKER
The Singer Opens Up About the Severe Anxiety That Took Over Her Life and Almost Destroyed Her Marriage to Billy Baldwin

As passengers squeezed onto the plane minutes before takeoff from L.A. last January, Chynna Phillips felt trapped. She'd flown countless times before, but now her palms were damp, and a pins-and-needles sensation crept over her. "I had vertigo, like I was on a cliff, looking down," says the singer. Sick with fear and claustrophobia, she begged to be let off. "I was afraid if this escalated 25,000 feet in the air," she says, "I wouldn't get the help I needed."

The panic that grounded her that day only grew worse in the days that followed, even threatening to tear apart her life with actor Billy Baldwin. So on Feb. 12, the day she turned 42, Phillips checked in to a treatment center for anxiety. "I tried to keep all my plates in the air-a pop career, being the best mom and a rockin' wife," she says. "But trust me, the plates fall and break." Nine months later she's found balance, rebuilding her marriage and reuniting with her bandmates and lifelong friends Carnie and Wendy Wilson for a new Wilson Phillips album, Christmas in Harmony. Says Phillips: "It's been the most difficult but most cathartic year of my life."

She traces her problems to a "perfect storm" of events last fall: the stress of leaving her kids (daughters Jameson, 10, and Brooke, 5, and son Vance, 9) for a 10-week tour to promote her Christian-music album; widening cracks in her then-14-year marriage; and, most devastating, half sister Mackenzie Phillips' public confession about her sexual relationship with their late father, the Mamas & the Papas' John Phillips, in Mackenzie's memoir High on Arrival. "I knew about [the incest] but wasn't ready for everyone to be talking about it suddenly," says Phillips. Shaken by everything happening at once, she began having panic attacks, palpitations and breathlessness. She felt extreme isolation, even when she was around her closest friends. "I hit bottom. I couldn't cope with my marriage and my sister," she says. "I needed a wake-up call. [Going to treatment] was a way to have some solace."

There she found help dealing with her racing thoughts. "Now I tell myself, 'Quiet those voices in your head saying you're not doing enough with your career, and turn them over to God,'" says Phillips. "That chatter is my enemy." But she left after just two weeks because "I couldn't bear to be away from my family." Still, she knew she wasn't cured. "When I got out, I realized I had to face the wreckage I created and tell Billy I was unhappy with our marriage," she says. "I felt hopeless."

In what she calls "an impulsive decision I regret," she blindsided Baldwin, 47, with divorce papers. "I was rocked," he says. "I didn't realize Chynna was at the end of her rope." Though she asked her lawyer to revoke the filing hours later-"I was like, 'What am I doing? This is my family, I have to fight for it,'" she says-their marriage clearly needed help. "We took each other for granted," says Phillips. "I met Billy at 23. You change a lot in 20 years." She also sometimes felt domineered. "My husband has never been abusive in any way, but he's 6'2" and intense, so when he expresses himself, it can be very intimidating," she says. "I shut down, like I'm a 5-year-old mentally." Baldwin admits that the way he talks to her can be a problem. "When I first met Chynna, she'd say, 'Why are you raising your voice?' And I'd say, 'I'm not,'" he says. "It's a cultural thing-if you grew up in a big family on the East Coast, then you understand. But it triggers her anxiety."

Counseling gave them new ways to handle conflict. "People say, 'You can't change things,'" he says. "But if it can save your family, you can." They focused on communicating better. "Saying 'Billy, I'm shut down, so give me a half hour before we talk' is huge," says Phillips. "Instead of interrupting, I try to listen. It's not easy. But we're more real with each other now." Most of all, she's moved by Baldwin's refusal to give up on their relationship. "I come from a broken home and never felt that anyone fought for me," she says. "Billy did."

So far, victory has been sweet: On Sept. 12, three days after their 15th wedding anniversary, with their children at their side, they renewed their vows in front of their congregation. "It was the most romantic, rewarding anniversary we've ever had," says Phillips. Adds Baldwin: "Grown men had tears coming down their cheeks!" With her anxiety under control, "Everything is better than ever," he adds. Phillips couldn't agree more. "All we've gone through this year was worth it," she says. "Billy loves me no matter how angry, impatient or frustrated I get. You can't put a price tag on that."

More From This Article
Mending Ties with Mackenzie

A year later Phillips is still grappling with the fallout from her half sister's claims of incest. Though Mackenzie had told Chynna more than a decade ago, "I had never spoken about it with anybody other than my own therapist, Billy and a few close friends," says Phillips. Adds Baldwin: "Chynna wanted to keep it in the family and deal with it internally." So what's her relationship with her sister like now? "We're speaking in very limited ways at the moment," says Phillips. "Not because I don't love her—I love her very much. It's just that when you are in the process of healing, sometimes the healthiest thing you can do is have space. She understands that 100 percent, and I appreciate her support."

Wow! I had no idea Chynna was going through all that! Thankfully she got the treatment she needed and had an understanding husband who was willing to work with her to repair their relationship! Hopefully in the future she will also be able to repair her relationship with Mack!

I don't get Michelle Phillips protecting a brand. The Mamas and the Papas were a great singing group but everyone knew that John Phillips was an awful father and that was before all this incest information came out. He's responsible for all the problems Mack had growing up. She should have protected her back then as well.

Well, Michelle also co-wrote several of the M&P songs (the most famous one being "California Dreamin'") and still gets royalties from them. So I think it all boils down to a money issue. No matter which way you cut it, it's a shame. :(

Well, Michelle also co-wrote several of the M&P songs (the most famous one being "California Dreamin'") and still gets royalties from them. So I think it all boils down to a money issue. No matter which way you cut it, it's a shame. :(
She's also the sole survivor of the group so I'm sure she feels a responsibility to protect it's good name and the good names of her late bandmates. Also as the sole survivor she now gets all the royalties and licensing fee's etc. for the groups music. So it's also in her best financial interest, as Monika said, to protect the brand. That still doesn't justify her putting her business interests ahead of those of her stepdaughter but I guess it does explain it.

She's also the sole survivor of the group so I'm sure she feels a responsibility to protect it's good name and the good names of her late bandmates. Also as the sole survivor she now gets all the royalties and licensing fee's etc. for the groups music. So it's also in her best financial interest, as Monika said, to protect the brand. That still doesn't justify her putting her business interests ahead of those of her stepdaughter but I guess it does explain it.
It is just disappointing though. I was a fan of hers when she was on KL. She's a great actress as well as a singer. It's just too bad what is happening with that family.

It is just disappointing though. I was a fan of hers when she was on KL. She's a great actress as well as a singer. It's just too bad what is happening with that family.
It's sad that something that happened all those years ago is causing all these problems in this family now.

It is - no amount of money and publicity is worth tearing a family apart. Besides, Marv is right that as the sole surviving member of the Mamas & Papas, Michelle sees herself as keeper of the flame - and the fact that she sees potential risk to her royalties as co-writer of some of their songs. True, she ceased being Mack's stepmother in 1970 when her divorce with John became final, but they had stayed fairly close all the years since until the publication of Mack's book.

I know Mackenzie has said she has no regrets about writing the book, but I do have to wonder if she feels if in the end, it was really worth it. I mean, I have no doubt that her story has helped incest survivors - but in the process Mack's family (with the exception of her son) has shunned her. No matter which way you look at it, it's just tremendously sad. :(

I truly believe that she feels writing the book was worth it. It really shows when she talks about how other incest survivors have contacted her and poured their hearts out to her.

It is just disappointing though. I was a fan of hers when she was on KL. She's a great actress as well as a singer. It's just too bad what is happening with that family.

I was an Anne Matheson fan as well. However, it is what it is. Besides, Michelle was the other woman when John was married to Mack's mother. Michelle will have to accept that it might have very well happened. She was not the one that had to go the hellacious mess Mack went through.

Mack was only 11 when John and Michelle divorced, so I don't think the incest thing started until John was married to wife #3, Genievieve Waite (the mother of Tamerlane and Bijou). But both John and Michelle had occasional romps when he was married to Ms. Waite (both admitted as much in their respective autobiographies, both published in the 1980s).

Maybe Michelle is simply in denial, and her reaction has always been to lash out at Mack - because she can't lash out at John. But she was wise to keep John away from Chynna (who admitted that she only saw her father only about once every two years growing up) - which is probably why Chynna is the most well-adjusted of John's kids.