Mackenzie Phillips`s New Bombshells About Her Relationship with Her Father
HAMMER: Welcome back to SHOWBIZ TONIGHT. I`m A.J. Hammer in New York. Tonight, the brand-new astonishing revelations from Mackenzie Phillips about her incestuous relationship with her father and why her younger half- sister now says she is lying. That`s just one of two stories with big news breaking today. Just hours ago, on CNN`s "LARRY KING LIVE," Mackenzie Phillips exposed yet another bombshell today claiming her father is the one who paid for her abortion. And now, her half sister, actress Bijou Phillips says, don`t believe her. And in more big news breaking, John Travolta took the stand today in the extortion case involving the tragic death of his son, Jett. In his own words, Travolta explains how he was shaken down for $25 million. Joining me tonight in New York, Ben Widdicombe who is a celebrity editor for "StyleList.com." Tonight, in Hollywood, Kim Serafin, who is a senior editor for "In Touch Weekly." All right. So "One Day at a Time" star Mackenzie Phillips speaking out again today with new claims about an incestuous relationship with her father, of course, John Phillips of the Mamas and the Papas. Just hours ago on CNN`s "Larry King Live," Mackenzie claimed the incest ended when she got pregnant and her father paid for her to have an abortion. You`ve got to see this.</s>KING: When did it end?</s>PHILLIPS: It ended when I became pregnant.</s>KING: Was it his baby?</s>PHILLIPS: I don`t know.</s>KING: Were you sleeping with someone else?</s>PHILLIPS: My son`s father.</s>KING: It could have been his baby, too.</s>PHILLIPS: It could very well have, but the implications of such were so mind-bogglingly disturbing to me.</s>KING: Did you have an abortion?</s>PHILLIPS: Yes, I did.</s>KING: Did you tell your father?</s>PHILLIPS: He paid for it and I never, ever let him touch me again.</s>HAMMER: Wow. Ben, off to you. Obviously, she`s had a lot of skeptics questioning her claims. But what do you think? Now, with these new details - do they support the argument that, hey, you know, you really can`t make this stuff up?</s>WIDDICOMBE: Well, you know, it`s really impossible to know, A.J. This is an issue which divided her own family. It`s impossible for anyone other than the two people who are allegedly involved in the situation to know what the real truth is. People who have known her, her entire life are split on whether she is telling the truth or not. I believe she believes she is telling the truth. As we know, there is such a thing as false memory, recovery syndrome and other people who get these things wrong occasionally for whatever reason. But it`s really shocking. And the fact is, we don`t know.</s>HAMMER: And it`s just so hideous to think of the implications of the fact that this may have actually taken place. Let me play this other part of Mackenzie`s new interview on CNN`s "LARRY KING LIVE," just ended hours ago. Mackenzie talked in brand-new and very stunning detail about the night she first remembered having sex with her dad. This was supposed to be the night before her wedding. Look at this.</s>PHILLIPS: The night before my father came to Florida with the intention to stop the union. Nobody wanted me to marry Jeff. And I went to my father`s hotel room and he had a lot of drugs and I had a lot of drugs. We took a lot of drugs. And all I remember is arriving in the room, getting high and I remember sort of - you know, how you kind of - I don`t know if you know this. You probably don`t know this, but if you are in a blackout and you`re not in your body. And then you come to in your body, I was in the act of having sex with my father.</s>HAMMER: Again, just incredible to hear. And here`s the thing about this. There are a lot of people rallying around Mackenzie and the story that she is telling about incest, saying it can be a positive thing to be talking about it. But there are still those not buying it because of her history with drugs and blacking out. Kim, if there is even a chance Mackenzie`s story is true, then obviously, she is say victim. Is it just completely unfair for people to judge her?</s>SERAFIN: Yes. Again, nobody really knows except her and her father who is not alive anymore. Although when you watch that interview, it really does seem like it`s not so cathartic for her. It seems like she is having a lot of trouble talking about this which makes it seem a lot more true. You are hearing so many people speak out. She said that, you know, calls to incest lines are up, that she is getting so much positive feedback from incest survivors who have come forward. So if she is doing something good, then, obviously that`s a good thing and she`s really put herself out there.</s>HAMMER: Yes. And then, as you mentioned, this really has divided their family. Mackenzie`s half sister, Chynna, came out supporting Mackenzie saying she does believe her. But I can tell you this - today, another half sister, Bijou Phillips, does not believe her. She`s calling Mackenzie a flat-out liar. Let me read from this Twitter rant that Bijou posted this week, "When I was young, my sister told me about this. It ruined my life and my relationship with my father. Up to that point, I was a normal kid, started doing drugs, did not talk to my dad anymore. I was deeply</s>WIDDICOMBE: Well, you know, she is speaking her own truth. And clearly, this is something that she needs to talk about even though it`s causing all this controversy. So I think that she has the right to tell her story and say what she believes that happened to her. It`s fascinating that Bijou is blaming this incident for herself going off the rails. She was famous in the fashion industry in the late `90s as a really troubled young model. So I`m really interested to hear her credit things for putting her off the rails.</s>HAMMER: All right. Let`s move on because in more big news breaking today, John Travolta took the stand in the extortion trial today related to his son`s death. He describes a paramedic`s plot to extort $25 million from John by threatening to expose a document that John said today would, quote, "imply that the death of my son was intentional and I was culpable in some way." I have to tell you, hearing those words and that came from John Travolta`s mouth today. Kim, quickly, I mean, my heart breaks picturing him going through all this. Yours must as well.</s>SERAFIN: Absolutely. I mean, to have to deal with that and then, now to have to go through this publicly and relive a lot of this, on top of which, a lot of people are even criticizing him now for not coming forward sooner saying that his son was autistic, saying that he should have said that sooner as he`s still dealing with this. It`s really tough for him. But good for him for getting out there to show other people who might try to do this celebrities, "You`re not going to get away with this."</s>HAMMER: Yes. Hopefully, really, he`s getting some closure here. That`s what I`ve been saying all along. Ben Widdicombe, Kim Serafin, thank you guys.</s>HAMMER: As we move on tonight, right now, Britney Spears getting freaky with her old buddy from `N Sync - not Justin Timberlake but Lance Bass. Take a look at this video. It just surfaced online today, Britney looking hot on stage at her concert in Las Vegas. The guy who`s sitting on the couch in the middle - that`s Lance. Now, there have been all kinds of rumors online that Britney gave a lap dance to Lance. Well, it may not have been a lap dance, but he certainly got an eyeful. Hey, some guys have all the luck. Tonight, Tori Spelling`s medical mystery. The reality star rushed to the hospital twice in severe pain with a mystery illness. So the question is, what`s going on with her? This is SHOWBIZ TONIGHT on HLN. Now, the "SHOWBIZ News Ticker" - more stories from the SHOWBIZ TONIGHT newsroom making news right now.</s>TEXT: Michael Jackson`s estate sues "Heal the World" Foundation for false advertising. Heroic pilot Captain "Sully" who landed plane on Hudson River to fly again, October 1.