What Bruce Willis' Kids Have Said About His Dementia
The sudden announcement that actor Bruce Willis had been diagnosed with aphasia shook the entertainment industry in spring 2022. Since that time, there have been additional updates to his condition. In February 2023, his family issued a statement by way of The Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration that his condition, since their original announcement, has been specified further to frontotemporal dementia (FTD). There is no known cure for FTD, and one of its major effects is difficulty communicating.
Bruce's daughters are honoring their father by raising awareness of his condition, which is lesser known compared to other types of dementia. Although no one knows for sure how the disease will progress, the actor's family appears to be rallying around him.
Not long after Christmas 2023, the actor's wife, Emma Heming Willis, took to Instagram to express her gratitude for the outpouring of support their family had received in the wake of Bruce's diagnosis. "I receive countless messages of love and support because Bruce is so beloved," she wrote. "I am grateful to you." But what have his five daughters said about his condition?
His daughters let us in to their life
Just after the New Year, Bruce Willis' daughter Scout shared pictures on Instagram of her father. The post has since been deleted. However, Good Morning America highlighted a few of the images, including a tender moment where Scout is resting her head on her father's chest. These images hadn't been seen before, and the outlet noted Scout's simple caption read: "My guy."
In December 2023, an anonymous source close to the Willis family told US Weekly that the brood is basically living together at this point. "They're all there all the time," they told the outlet. "Once Bruce was diagnosed, everyone came together to keep his memory of the family intact and to be there as a constant reminder [that they] love him. [Everything] revolves around him."
The source also mentioned that at least one member of the family is with him at all times. Further, they added that Rumer Willis frequently brings her daughter to the house so that she knows her grandfather. For Father's Day 2023, Willis' first as a grandfather, Rumer posted a photo on Instagram of her father holding her baby Louella that day with a caption indicating her gratefulness for having her dad around.
Tallulah got real with Vogue
Speaking with Vogue in May 2023, Bruce Willis' daughter Tallulah — from his marriage with Demi Moore — told the outlet that frontotemporal dementia is taking away pieces of his awareness and behavior every day. She even said after a while, she began wondering if he'd lost interest in her and favored her half-sisters from his marriage to her stepmother.
"But I've known that something was wrong for a long time," Tallulah told Vogue. "It started out with a kind of vague unresponsiveness, which the family chalked up to Hollywood hearing loss: 'Speak up! Die Hard messed with Dad's ears.' Later that unresponsiveness broadened, and I sometimes took it personally." She then added that in recent years, she's tried to avoid the decline of her dad's health as her battle against anorexia nervosa made her unable to handle accepting her dad's situation.
Tallulah told the outlet she is always taking pictures when she visits her dad's house. She said she has also gone through her digital mementos too, like voicemails, and made sure to save them somewhere for posterity. As difficult as it is to witness Willis' decline through the eyes of his loving family, one sentiment that Tallulah mentioned hopefully brings all of them some peace. She said he isn't struggling at present with a lot of memory loss: "He still knows who I am and lights up when I enter the room," per Vogue.