One of Hollywood’s most unforgettable faces of the 1970s turned heads this week during a rare Los Angeles outing.

Mackenzie Phillips, 65, was recently seen with her 38-year-old son Shane Barakan, looking casual in a denim jacket, graphic t-shirt, and sneakers while indulging in some shopping.

Phillips made her debut at 13 in the 1973 film American Graffiti and became a cultural icon as the rebellious Julie on the popular sitcom One Day at a Time. However, her battle with substance abuse led to her departure from the show.

Though she rarely appears in public, her connection to Hollywood royalty is undeniable: She is the daughter of The Mamas and the Papas singer John Phillips and his first wife Susan Adams, and the half-sister of Chynna Phillips from the chart-topping group Wilson Phillips.

But her famous lineage has long been shadowed by controversy. 

In her 2009 memoir High on Arrival, Phillips claimed she endured a decade-long incestuous relationship with her father, who passed away in 2001.

One of Hollywood’s most unforgettable faces of the 1970s turned heads this week during a rare Los Angeles outing

The actress, 65, was spotted out and about, cutting a casual figure in a denim jacket, graphic tee, and sneakers as she enjoyed some retail therapy

The memoir, which chronicled her battles with addiction and trauma, included the shocking claim that the Grammy-winning musician raped her at age 19, the night before her 1979 wedding to Jeff Sessler. 

Phillips also wrote that as her drug use worsened, their sexual encounters became ‘consensual’ for almost a decade.

When High on Arrival was released in September 2009, Phillips sat down with Oprah Winfrey for an hour-long interview. 

She revealed that she first tried cocaine at age 11 and that her father had supplied her with drugs and even injected her with cocaine. 

During the interview, Phillips read excerpts from her memoir, including the account of the night before her wedding: ‘I woke up that night from a blackout to find myself having sex with my own father.’

When she confronted him months later, asking why he had raped her, he allegedly replied, ‘Raped you? Don’t you mean we made love?’

Phillips described the ensuing sexual relationship as ‘sort of Stockholm syndrome, where you begin to love your captor,’ though she maintained that the initial encounter was rape. 

‘No matter what kind of incest, it is an abuse of power … a betrayal of trust,’ she told Oprah. 

The star was with her son Shane Barakan, 38

Though seldom seen in public, her Hollywood pedigree remains impossible to ignore: She is the daughter of The Mamas and the Papas singer John Phillips and his first wife Susan Adams, and the half-sister of Chynna Phillips of chart-topping group Wilson Phillips 

The alleged abuse ended after Phillips became pregnant and, worried about the child’s parentage, had an abortion — which her father reportedly paid for.

Family reactions have been divided. 

Genevieve Waite, John Phillips’ third wife, denied the allegations, calling them inconsistent with his character. 

Michelle Phillips, John’s second wife, also questioned their veracity. 

Chynna, Mackenzie’s half-sister, however, said she believes Mackenzie’s account, noting that Mackenzie first confided in her about the relationship during a phone conversation in 1997, roughly 11 years after it allegedly ended. 

In 2022, Mackenzie and Chynna sat down for an emotional interview to discuss the allegations. 

‘Talk about complex, so many different levels to who he was,’ Chynna, the 57-year-old singer who is married to Billy Baldwin, explained of her father.

‘Obviously he’s an amazing songwriter,’ she continued, with Mackenzie adding: ‘Genius.’

Mackenzie Phillips first captured attention at just 13 in 1973’s American Graffiti

Phillips cemented her place in pop culture as the rebellious Julie on the hit sitcom One Day at a Time, though struggles with substance abuse ultimately cut her run on the show short; (Pat Harrington Jr and, from left, Valerie Bertinelli, Bonnie Franklin, and Phillips)

Mackenzie (R) with mom Susan Adams

‘I loved his laugh. Yet there was this whole other side to Dad that was kind of, like, a monster,’ Chynna continued. 

‘He had a very dark side,’ Mackenzie said, with Chynna agreeing: ‘He was so dark, and you just didn’t know who you were going to get… it was very unpredictable.’

Chynna then addressed Mackenzie, who is now a substance use counselor, about the fallout from publicly revealing the affair. 

‘When I stood by you, I meant it with all my heart… and I believed you, and I want you to know that I was proud of you for coming out, even though it was painful for everybody,’ Chynna said.

Mackenzie responded: ‘Dad was something else. And I get a lot of criticism and a lot of trolling online for having forgiveness in my heart. Forgiving is for me, not the other person. 

‘And forgiving doesn’t mean that I co-sign or agree with what I’m forgiving you for, or him for. It’s very complicated. It’s very, very complicated. And yet, I am at peace.’

Phillips was just 12 during the filming of American Graffiti and 13 when it was released, playing Carol Morrison, a young girl picked up by hot-rodding teenager John Milner. 

She rose to fame in the 1970s as Julie Cooper (later Horvath) on the long-running sitcom One Day at a Time, earning $50,000 a week — equivalent to more than $280,000 today. 

But her famous lineage has long been shadowed by controversy: In her 2009 memoir High on Arrival, Phillips claimed she endured a decade-long incestuous relationship with her father, who passed away in 2001; (seen in 1980)

The memoir, which chronicled her battles with addiction and trauma, included the shocking claim that the Grammy-winning musician raped her at age 19, the night before her 1979 wedding to Jeff Sessler; (seen in 1980)

Mackenzie and her half-sister Chynna Phillips

Her rising stardom was marred by drug and alcohol abuse, leading to arrests, missed rehearsals, and incoherent performances, which ultimately got her fired in 1980. 

After two near-fatal overdoses, Phillips voluntarily entered treatment, and the show invited her back in 1981. 

She relapsed in 1982 and collapsed on set the following year; after refusing a drug test, she was permanently fired and her character was written out. 

From the mid-1980s to early 1990s, she toured as a singer with a re-formed version of The Mamas & the Papas. 

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, she appeared on Disney Channel projects including So Weird and Double Teamed, and guest-starred on shows like ER, Without a Trace, and Beverly Hills, 90210.

Phillips won an Honorary Best Actress award in 2011 for her role in the indie film Peach Plum Pear and later began working as a drug rehab counselor at the Breathe Life Healing Center in West Hollywood. 

She returned to One Day at a Time in 2017 and 2019 as a counselor and appeared on Orange Is the New Black in 2018, showing her enduring presence on screen despite decades of personal struggles.