Why Mackenzie Phillips forgave her father after admitting to alleged 10-year incestuous relationship with him

Warning: This article contains discussion of rape which some readers may find distressing.

So Weird actor Mackenzie Phillips has explained why she decided to forgive her father for allegedly introducing her into a 10-year-long incestuous relationship.

Phillips, who was also known for her roles in American Graffiti and One Day at a Time, has opened up in a new book about the relationship she had with her father, John Phillips, after she previously alleged he had raped her when she was 19 years old.

Phillips made the admission about the alleged incestuous relationship in her first book, High on Arrival, claiming the assault took place the night before she married her now-ex-husband, Jeff Sessler.

Sex between the two then allegedly became consensual, and came to an end when Phillips became pregnant and underwent an abortion.

Phillips had been married to Jeff Sessler when the relationship with her dad began (Paul Archuleta/FilmMagic)

Phillips now goes into further detail in her new book, Hopeful Healing: Essays on Managing Recovery and Surviving Addiction.

John passed away in 2001, but previously was known as a singer in the 60s group The Mamas & the Papas.

In 2009, Phillips told Oprah Winfrey she doesn't 'hate' her father, saying that she understood he was a 'very tortured man'.

"He sort of passed that torture down to me," Phillips said at the time.

Now, she's described her journey on forgiving her father, and the considerations she took into account to try and do so.

In the book, which has been cited by People, Phillips said: “Do I think that my father held me in his arms when I was a baby and thought, ‘I’m going to abuse my daughter some day?’ No. I think that a toxic combination of chance and circumstance and drugs and alcohol morphed into something dark and ugly.”

Phillips described her father as 'tortured' (Robin Platzer/Images/Getty Images)

Phillips' book comes after she previously spoke about her father on her sister Chynna Phillips Baldwin’s YouTube channel, at which time she described him as 'something else'.

She said: "I get a lot of criticism, and a lot of trolling online, for having forgiveness in my heart. Forgiveness, because forgiving is for me, not for the other person. And forgiving doesn’t mean I cosign or agree with what I’m forgiving him for. It’s very complicated and yet I am at peace.”

Chynna told Phillips there were 'so many different levels' to their father, saying: “Obviously he’s an amazing songwriter and, you know I loved his laugh, and yet there was this whole other side to Dad that was, I mean, kind of, like a monster."

If you've been affected by any of the issues in this article, you can contact The National Sexual Assault Hotline on 800.656.HOPE (4673), available 24/7. Or you can chat online via online.rainn.org