The Truth About Bruce Willis' Five Daughters
The following references addiction and mental health struggles.
Ever since he burst onto the scene in the 1970s, Bruce Willis has been a Hollywood mainstay. Though some of his most iconic roles in movies like "Die Hard" and "Pulp Fiction" happened decades ago, he has kept on making films. In fact, Willis starred in so many in 2021 that The Razzies gave him his own category for bad acting — which they later rescinded following the news of his aphasia diagnosis and retirement.
After Bruce Willis' diagnosis was made public in March 2022, many Hollywood folks showed the actor support. His family has also been prominent in the coverage as they stand by the action icon's side in this next phase of his life. "The exquisite outpouring of love that I am experiencing right now is just blowing me away," daughter Scout Willis posted on Instagram Stories (via Us Weekly). "Thank you all for showing up with so much tenderness and stunning love for my daddio and my whole family." In stepping away from the spotlight, he plans on spending more time with his family which he told People in 2020 is a lot more fun than working.
It was love at first sight for Bruce Willis and Emma Heming
When Bruce Willis first met model Emma Heming in 2007, there was no turning back. Heming gushed to People that she was smitten straight away, and Willis told the magazine, "I was already in love with her." They married in 2009 and, a few kiddos later, continue to support one another however possible.
A source told People in the wake of Willis' health diagnosis that his family is glad to be able to spend more time with him. "Emma is especially grateful for the daughters she shares with Bruce," the insider told the outlet. "Everyone is focused on all the happy moments they are able to share." In honor of Willis' birthday in March 2022, Heming shared a gallery on Instagram of some very cute moments together along with a caption that read, "I don't just love him, I really really like him."
Heming's support of Willis, especially in this less-than-planned-for retirement, is heartening to see. Especially knowing that stepping away from work gives him that extra family time, it's great to know that one of Hollywood's biggest action heroes has his own safe spot to land.
Rumer Willis has followed her movie star dad's path
When your parents are Demi Moore and Bruce Willis, there's a good chance you'll end up doing something in the performing arts. For Rumer Willis, that something is her work as both an actor and singer. Some of her most notable roles have been as Tory Ash in "Empire," Ellie in "Sorority Row," and Joanna Pettet in "Once Upon a Time...In Hollywood."
In addition to her work as a performer, Rumer is known for her outspoken nature and activism work, and as Civilian noted, she uses her platform to champion the causes she cares about. For example, per Broadway World, she joined 60 other celebrities to raise over $130,000 for Ukraine in a telethon in March 2022. Other performers in the telethon included Audra McDonald, Eugene Levy, Mandy Patinkin, and Chandra Wilson.
Rumer credits her dad Bruce for helping her hone her acting prowess. In an April 2022 Instagram post, she shared a throwback photo of herself as a little girl making goofy faces beside her dad and little sibling. In the caption she wrote, "I love you Daddio, to the [moon] and Back. Thank you for teaching me to be so silly I love laughing with you."
Scout Willis is a multifaceted artist
Not to be outdone by her talented siblings, Scout Willis is also more than comfortable in the arts world. She's both worked as an actor and lent her talents behind the scenes as a costume department internet. But to keep things simple, Bruce Willis and Demi Moore's second-born sums her experience up as simply being an "artist" per her Instagram bio. She dropped her first single "Love Without Possession" in October 2021 with a music video that ET Canada called "stunning."
Before her song was released, Scout wrote on Instagram that the lyrics were written during a really difficult time of heartbreak in her life. "It kept me company like a tender friend, narrating a story I was living in real time, softening the edges of my pain as only art can," she wrote of her song.
In that same spirit of vulnerability, Scout has been open about how good it's been to have such outpouring support after her dad's diagnosis. She said on Instagram that the amount of love she and her family received after the announcement was something she never expected. "I am so grateful for your love, I'm so grateful to hear about what my papa means to you," she wrote. "Thank you so much to everyone who reached out to me yesterday, i love and I appreciate you with all my heart."
Scout made herself into a feminist icon
Back in 2014, Scout Willis made headlines for protesting Instagram's decency policy in a very unique way: she wandered the streets of New York City topless. Her walkabout was prompted by Instagram deleting one of her photos because she was wearing a shirt with two topless women on it, according to Today. But more than that, the then-22-year-old wanted to make a stand about women being able to decide for themselves what is or isn't decent. "This is about helping women feel empowered to make personal choices about their bodies not dictated by what society says is decent," Bruce Willis and Demi Moore's second-eldest wrote at the time on Twitter.
Scout's topless shopping adventure put her squarely into the Free the Nipple movement alongside other celebs like Rihanna and Miley Cyrus. In an essay for XOJane, Scout explained that social media policies that deem female nudity indecent, whereas images of people using hard drugs are apparently fine, only add fuel to the sexism fire. "I am not trying to argue for mandatory toplessness, or even bralessness," she wrote in part (via Time). "What I am arguing for is a woman's right to choose how she represents her body." You tell 'em, Scout.
Tallulah Willis is open about her off-screen life
Though Tallulah Willis dipped her toe into the world of acting like dad Bruce Willis, mom Demi Moore, and her sisters, that line of work wasn't in the cards for her. Instead, she launched her own clothing company called Wyllis. Knowing herself how hard it is to live with mental health issues as well as body image issues, Wyllis is a means to help build people up in an industry that tears people down. The company site, which features resources for people in crisis, states, "Our foundation is a vintage inspired curation, marrying the past to the bodies of today."
Tallulah lived with body dysmorphia for years, especially after spending so much of her life in the spotlight and comparing herself to mom Demi Moore. In a May 2021 Instagram post, she touched on her image issues, writing, "I was/am inherently valuable and worthy, at any life stage, at any size, with anyhair do! (As are you)." As The Sun reported, she's also opened up on Instagram Stories about being emotionally abused and manipulated by someone she not only lived with, but knew for most of her life. "My very real mental health issues were manipulated and falsified for job security, and an unlimited credit card," she wrote.
Because Tallulah knows what it's like to struggle with oneself, she does a lot of promoting self love and acceptance in her vulnerability as well as her work with Wyllis.
If you or someone you know is struggling with mental health, please contact the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741, call the National Alliance on Mental Illness helpline at 1-800-950-NAMI (6264), or visit the National Institute of Mental Health website.
Scout and Tallulah were on the outs with their mom
There was a period of time when Scout Willis and Tallulah Willis didn't speak to their mother Demi Moore. In a 2019 "Red Table Talk" episode, Tallulah said things were rocky when Moore was married to Ashton Kutcher and struggling with substance use. "Watching the behavior with Ashton those years — because everyone left the house and it was just me living there — I felt very forgotten and I felt like I developed and I nurtured a narrative that she didn't love me. And I truly believed it," Tallulah said during the show. "And I know that she does 100 percent, but in that moment, you're hurt and you can't fathom that someone that loves you would do that to you and would choose others more than you."
In the aforementioned "Red Table Talk" chat, Rumer Willis said she acted as an intermediary during the three years when her sisters weren't talking to their mom, but that only ended up driving a wedge between the siblings.
Thankfully now things are better among the trio of sisters and Moore. On a 2019 episode of "The Talk," Rumer celebrated Moore for being so open about her life, challenges, and experiences in her memoir, and in a 2021 chat with Story + Rain, Tallulah shared that she now embraces and celebrates the things she and her mother have in common.
If you or anyone you know is struggling with addiction issues, help is available. Visit the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website or contact SAMHSA's National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).
Mabel Ray is Bruce Willis' fourth daughter
In a 2013 chat with Everything Zoomer, Bruce Willis and Emma Heming Willis gushed about life with their then-baby girl Mabel Ray Willis. Bruce was particularly enjoying being a dad to a little one again. "Having a brand new baby daughter is an extraordinary thing — it feels like it's the first time and it's just as fun and exciting," he told the outlet. "You feel nothing but love for your child. It's really remarkable."
Mabel is Bruce and Heming's first child together, arriving three years after they were married. Per her mom's Instagram, Mabel is absolutely a "Daddy's girl," she took up softball in 2019, and she sure seems to love being a big sister to Evelyn Willis.
Mabel has also been an ambassador for Room to Grow, an organization that helps support families and children in their early development years. Heming shared a photo of her and Mabel from the nonprofit's 2019 benefit gala with pride in her young daughter's work. "Room to Grow has been such a big part of my daughter's life for many years," Heming wrote in her caption. "I wanted her to see how her work, big or small can make an impact in a family's life."
Evelyn Penn is the youngest Willis daughter
Bruce Willis became a dad for the fifth time in 2014 when Evelyn Penn Willis was born. At just a few weeks old, mom Emma Heming Willis posted an adorable Instagram photo of her little girls together with a caption that said "The start of a beautiful friendship."
Like her big sister Mabel Ray Willis, Evelyn is seen frequently on Heming's social media, often because it seems her mama can't contain her pride for her little ones. When Evelyn's fifth birthday arrived on May 5, 2019 — her golden birthday — Heming posted a series of preciously precocious photos of her youngest. Unsurprisingly, Heming has nothing but admiration for her little Taurus. She wrote, in part, "It took me till my 40s to finally find my voice — this one found hers at 2! She is fierce and strong-willed as they come. She is witty and joyful — we just love this little force so deeply. I'm not sure what her path will be but I know what ever she chooses it'll be done with heart and passion."
Rumer has been body-shamed and bullied
Adolescence is a complicated time for just about everyone as is, but imagine being a tween with super famous parents and all of the media attention that comes with that. As HuffPost recounted, Bruce Willis and Demi Moore's eldest was still a kid when the celebrity gossip blogger boom happened, which made growing up in the public eye even more difficult. "They said I had a huge jaw," Rumer Willis told the outlet. "They said I had a ′potato head.' When you're 14 or 15, I didn't really understand having value in myself yet. My mind went to, 'OK, so if I get skinny or if I dress the right way or present myself very hyper-sexually and dress this way, then I'll be valued.'"
Unfortunately, the trolls have followed Rumer into her 30s. As People reported in 2021, some social media users took it upon themselves to make comments about her weight. According to the outlet, Rumer shared on Instagram Stories that she'd recently received a number of unsolicited remarks about the way her body looked in a photo, writing, "Even though you may think it's your job or even your right to leave your unfiltered thoughts or judgements about my body for me and others to read...it's not." She told her followers on the platform that those sorts of comments don't actually help people with body or food disorders. Her post ended with a firm stance: "body shaming of any kind is something I will not stand for."
Rumer, Scout and Tallulah are all sober
Like mom Demi Moore, the three oldest Willis daughters are sober. They may have all taken that initial step at different points, but now they are walking together on the journey. In 2021, Rumer Willis spoke to "Addiction Talk" about being sober and the unique relationship it gained for her and her siblings. "The most amazing thing about this journey for us as a family is that in a lot of ways it has allowed for a different level and depth of communication that I don't know we would have had otherwise," she said.
As of November 2021, Rumer was just shy of five years sober, Scout Willis was over five years, and Tallulah Willis had been sober for seven years, according to Today. Rumer celebrated her fourth sobriety anniversary on NYE 2020 with a touching Instagram post where she talked about being so grateful to have been made to feel everything that happened in the course of 2020 and not use alcohol.
If you or anyone you know is struggling with addiction issues, help is available. Visit the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website or contact SAMHSA's National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).
The oldest Willis sisters grew up in Idaho
Bruce Willis and Demi Moore's three daughters may be Hollywood kids in that they have A-list parents, but they mostly grew up in Hailey, Idaho. "In some ways Idaho was isolating, but at the same time there was a freedom that LA would never allow," Tallulah Willis told SHOWstudio. In a separate chat with SSENSE, she acknowledged what a unique childhood she had — especially given how famous her parents are. "It was only when I was in my early twenties and I went back and visited that I was like, 'Wow, this place is so special.'" In the aforementioned SHOWstudio interview, Scout Willis said that while she felt like she didn't always fit in there, she recognizes why her parents wanted to put down roots in the Idaho town. "I'm so unbelievably grateful that our parents made that choice for us," she said.
During the pandemic quarantine in 2020, Moore, Bruce, Emma Heming, Mabel Willis, and Evelyn Willis stayed together with the oldest girls at their Idaho property. Moore and Bruce remained amicable in their divorce and shared parenting, though quarantining as one big blended family was certainly a big step. Even so, there are plenty of photos of this big brood spending time together. Including this cute Instagram picture shared for Bruce's birthday in 2021 by Moore, loving on their blended family unit.