In an emotional interview about the former actor’s dementia battle, Emma Heming Willis said she made the “hardest decision” by moving her husband Bruce Willis into a separate home.
Emma Heming Willis made the “hardest decision” by moving her husband Bruce Willis into a separate home.
The model, 47, has been caring for the 70-year-old Die Hard star since he was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia, and she has now revealed he has had to be moved to get professional care. Speaking on the ABC special Emma and Bruce Willis: The Unexpected Journey with Diane Sawyer, Emma said the decision was made to protect the wellbeing of their daughters, Mabel, 13,, and Evelyn, 11.
She also explained Bruce now lives in a one-storey house with a full-time care team.
Emma said: “When we go over, either we’re outside, or we’re watching a movie… it’s just really about being able to be there, and connect with Bruce.
“It is a house that is filled with love, and warmth, and care, and laughter. And it’s been beautiful to see that, to see how many of Bruce’s friends continue to show up for him, and they bring in life, and fun.”
Asked what she would want to say to her husband today, Emma said: “How he’s doing, (if) he’s okay, he feels okay. If there’s anything that we could do to support him better. I would really love to know that. If he’s scared.
“If he’s ever worried. I just would love to be able to just to have a conversation with him.”
Bruce shares three adult daughters with his former wife, Demi Moore, 62 – Rumer, 37, Scout, 34, and Tallulah, 31.
When doctors confirmed Bruce’s diagnosis in 2023 through a brain scan, Emma recalled: “I was so panicked. I remember hearing it and just not hearing anything else. It was like I was freefalling.”
She added: “I don’t think Bruce connected the dots.”
Of his condition, Emma said: “Bruce is still very mobile. Bruce is in really great health overall, you know. It’s just his brain that is failing him.”
She added the family has adjusted to the actor’s gradual loss of speech.
Emma added: “We have a way of communicating with him that is just a different, a different way. But I’m grateful. I’m grateful that my husband is still very much here.”
She also described the first signs of her husband’s decline, by saying: “For someone who is really talkative, very engaged, he was just a little more quiet, and when the family would get together he would kind of just melt a little bit.”
She added he began to lose words, and a stutter he had as a child returned.
Emma Heming Willis made ‘hardest decision’ by moving husband Bruce Willis into separate home
