When Mackenzie Phillips revealed that she had an incestuous relationship with her father, her stepmother said that she thought she was lying. It seems that there were some intense relations between those two, but I can't believe that she said that. Either Mackenzie was telling the truth, after many years of keeping that horrible secret, and her stepmother denying it was a cruel way to try and avoid embarrassment, or Mackenzie was indeed lying and still needs some serious mental help. I believe that either way, Michelle Phillips shouldn't have told the public she thought Mackenzie was lying.

I can understand that it can be confusing, with Bijou Phillips saying her sister told her about the relationship and then told her it wasn't true a few years later. But I can understand that Mackenzie might have been scared and wanted to cover it up as time went on. I guess at the same time, maybe Michelle is just trying to keep the family secret out of the public's eye.

Hopefully, this will be the start of a long healing process for Mackenzie, her sisters, her stepmother, and anyone else affected by this. Again, even if this relationship didn't actually transpire as Michelle says, there definitely was a lot of damage done by this false claim for all of them. And if it is true, then it's easy to see the need for everyone involved to get therapy.

One good thing to come out of this- The Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network has seen an increase in reports since this story broke. The thinking is that this story has given courage to others who were hiding in the dark with this type of secret. Hopefully, the acknowledgment of this secret helped Mackenzie, but also was able to help other people as well.

Sources

Phillips' incest claim draws attention to taboo - CNN

Family reacts to Mackenzie Phillips' incest allegations: Chynna believes, Michelle and Bijou don't - LA Times