Chynna Phillips addresses brother-in-law Danny Masterson's 'terrifying' rape case, sister-in-law Hilaria Baldwin's Spanish identity controversy
Chynna Philips, the singer-songwriter who found fame as part of the trio Wilson Phillips in the early ‘90s, is showing support for two famous in-laws — Hilaria Baldwin and Danny Masterson — in a new interview with the New York Post. Phillips is married to Billy Baldwin, brother of fellow actor Alec, whose wife Hilaria has been accused of pretending to be Spanish despite having grown up in Boston with the name Hilary.
Masterson, meanwhile, is the husband of Phillips’s younger half-sister, Bijou Phillips, and has also been back in the news thanks to a judge ruling on Wednesday that the stalking and intimidation lawsuit filed by four women who have accused the That ‘70s Show actor of rape must go through meditation through the Church of Scientology, of which Masterson is a member. Masterson is scheduled to face an arraignment hearing on three charges of rape, which allegedly took place from 2001 to 2003, on Jan. 6.
Speaking to the Post, Phillips — who posts about her Christian faith on the YouTube channel California Preachin’, a nod to the hit song “California Dreamin’” performed by her parents, John and Michelle Phillips of the Mamas & the Papas — called Masterson’s legal battle “terrifying.”
“He’s got the best lawyers so we’re hoping for the best,” the 52-year-old singer added. She has said that her half-sister Bijou, who married Masterson in 2011, encouraged her to reconcile with Baldwin after filing for divorce from the Backdraft star in 2010.
And she and Baldwin, 57, both weighed in on the Spanish accent controversy surrounding sister-in-law Hilaria, who last week told the New York Times that “there is not something I’m doing wrong.”
“This is probably an awkward and embarrassing time for Alec and Hilaria,” Baldwin, Alec’s younger brother, told the newspaper. “I’ve been texting Alec the whole time to make sure he’s OK and if he needs anything.”
“My family has been through this before,” Phillips added. “I was born in a fishbowl, and this kind of stuff has been happening around me since 1968.”
She also referenced Hilaria’s critics in a California Preachin’ video posted last Wednesday, telling viewers, “I feel terrible. Who’s going to throw the first stone at my sweet sister-in-law? She’s a good woman and you know none of us are perfect. We all have issues.”
Two other-in-laws name-checked in the interview: Justin Bieber and Hailey Baldwin, daughter of Billy’s actor brother Stephen. “They’re a cute couple,” she said of the pair. “We love them, and we admire their faith.”
The Post interview also saw the “Hold On” singer address her Christianity, her son Vance’s recovery from cancer, her mental health and half-sister Mackenzie Phillips’s 2009 claim that she had had a longtime sexual relationship with their father, the late John Phillips.
“I believed her because who in their right mind would say something like that about your father?” Phillips says of her sibling’s bombshell claim. She added that her support of Mackenzie did become “a little bit political.”
“My record company at the time told me that if I didn’t go on Oprah with Mackenzie they wouldn’t promote my album,” Phillips revealed.
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