She had sex with her father

Mackenzie Phillips insists that her father -- folk-rock superstar "Papa John" Phillips of The Mamas & the Papas -- was not a monster. She also stresses that their 10-year incestuous relationship is not as easily categorized as it might seem.




"My father was not a bad man. He was a very sick man," the former child star of "One Day at a Time" told TODAY. "He didn't set out to hurt me. He did the best with what he had. He was a damaged guy."





The allegations of rape and incest came to the forefront when Phillips promoted her tell-all memoir, "High on Arrival." The controversial book divided her family and horrified many who learned her story; Phillips had an abortion at one point because she wasn't sure whether she had become pregnant from her father or her husband. Phillips told TODAY she did not intend to reveal so much when she began writing her memoir, but she decided that it would be dishonest to do otherwise and a disservice to others who have suffered the emotional horrors of abuse and incest.