Actress Mackenzie Phillips says a morals clause in her contract led to her abrupt exit fromOne Day at a Time, and she is now describing the moment the sitcom's producers enforced it.
Phillips, 66, recalled the episode during a panel at Fanboy Expo Knoxville in Tennessee. She said all cast members had morals contracts, but hers included additional provisions because she was struggling with addiction at the time. Under those terms, producers had the right to send her to a doctor for a urinalysis if they suspected she was under the influence.
The turning point came during a lunch break, Phillips said. She had fallen asleep on a couch in the middle of the day, as cast and crew often did between scenes. Patricia Fass Palmer, a co-executive producer whom Phillips said she disliked for years but later became close to, woke her and told her she was being taken for a drug test.
Phillips said her first instinct was to ask for more time, because cocaine moves through the body quickly. Palmer refused to wait and told her to gather her things and leave. Phillips followed that instruction, and her regular run on the show came to an end.
She starred onOne Day at a Timefrom 1975 to 1980, when her character was written off after her firing. She later returned for a guest arc before leaving the series for good in 1983.
The series made Phillips a household name alongside Bonnie Franklin and Valerie Bertinelli, but her time on set was also marked by private struggles with substance use. In May, Phillips talked about that period and shared a memory she said might still surprise fans: during lunch breaks, she and Bertinelli would drive to her house, get in the pool, drink wine and snort cocaine.
She stressed that Bertinelli has spoken openly about that time and did not have the same addiction. «Valerie talks about it openly, so it's not like I'm pulling her covers or anything», Phillips said. The former child star added that drug use was common behind the scenes of the sitcom.
«We would do coke together in the dressing room and stuff», Phillips said. «I just happened to be the one that got caught. And thank God I got caught, you know?»
Asked what keeps her grounded today, Phillips pointed to her faith and the perspective she has gained from her history. She said people sometimes respond to her story with pity, but she does not see it that way.
«Don't feel sorry for me, because everything I went through, even though it was horrible and difficult, made me the woman I am today», she said.
Phillips added that she does not believe she could remove the difficult parts of her past without changing who she is. «If I could go back and just take this part out, then I might not be who I am», she said. «And I feel very blessed in my life.»
The actress has spent decades speaking candidly about addiction, trauma and recovery. She is the daughter of John Phillips, a co-founder of The Mamas & the Papas, and his first wife, Susan Adams. She chronicled her life in the memoirHigh on Arrivaland later wrote about recovery inHopeful Healing.
Beyond acting, Phillips has worked in the addiction and recovery field, including as a counselor and manager at Breathe Life Healing Centers. She described resilience as central to her survival.
«I have a high, high resilience», she said. «The love of my son, my family, my sisters — even though that relationship was very difficult for a long time — I just believe... I have a strong faith, and, I mean, I had no choice. Be resilient or die.»
Looking back, Phillips said she is grateful she was caught. The morals clause ended her time onOne Day at a Time, but she has described that moment as part of a longer journey through addiction and recovery.
