Her 15 minutes are up..

Years ago, I was in a Toronto hotel with my family. I was waiting patiently in the lobby whilst my parents shopped in the adjacent retail stores. Somewhat bored, I decided to use a payphone to call my girlfriend who was living in North Bay at the time. This was long before the days of cellphones, e-mail and "texting".

As I was making my way to the payphones, a young woman in front of me abruptly dropped one of the phones, yelled something unintelligible and left. I immediately recognized her as Mackenzie Phillips, the young star of " One Day at a Time". Although she was a huge hot commodity at the time, I was struck at how homely she was, and how she appeared to have slept in her clothing.( Yes I know that sounds bitchy, but it's the truth). I didn't watch her sitcom all that regularly, so she was never really on my radar screen for the remainder of my teenage life.

Last week Ms. Phillips once again came to my attention. This time was not a chance encounter in a hotel, but via a news report that she had slept with her father John, in a " consensual " sexual relationship. John, long dead, is unable to rebut any of these allegations. His ex-wives vehemently deny the story ( what else could they say?) , leaving Mackenzie to peddle her story to Oprah and anyone else who will listen. Her allegations are all recorded her in her book" High on Arrival". When queried as to why she wrote the book, Phillips replied something along the lines of : " It was my moral duty, I want to make sure something like this never happens again to anyone else" , etc...

Although the allegations made by Ms. Phillips are serious and the offence a vile one, one has to wonder: Why now?These allegations are decades old, and Mackenzie has had plenty of time and media coverage over the past years. Why weren't these charges levied then? Why Oprah in 2009 and not Merv back in the younger days?

Is this a true call for all those who have been abused to rally together? Or is this a woman who realizes her 15 minutes may be up?

Only Mackenzie and her long departed Dad will ever know for sure.