Demi Moore joins birthday celebrations as Bruce Willis’ wife Emma marks 50th with rare photo of actor

Bruce Willis’ wife Emma Heming marked her milestone 50th birthday with a heartfelt Instagram post on Thursday, while his former wife Demi Moore also joined in the celebrations with a warm tribute of her own.

The model reflected on turning 50 in a candid post shared to Instagram, alongside a playful, undated video of Willis, 71, singing ‘Happy Birthday’ after inhaling helium from a balloon.

‘Today is my big 5-0. And I have to say, I’m ready for this new decade and all it has to offer,’ Heming wrote. ‘My 40s were heavy, yet I’m proud of how far I’ve come as a wife, mom, care partner, and advocate. I’m also proud of the work we’re doing through the Emma & Bruce Willis Fund and what lies ahead.’

In the clip, Willis can be seen delivering a hilariously squeaky rendition of the birthday song, much to the delight of the couple’s daughters Mabel, 14, and Evelyn, 12.

Heming also shared a sweet photo of herself and Willis wearing party hats, offering a tender glimpse into family life as she continues her role as his caregiver following his aphasia diagnosis in 2022 and subsequent frontotemporal dementia diagnosis the following year.

Meanwhile, Moore, 63, marked the occasion by celebrating Heming publicly, highlighting her wellness brand Make Time and writing on Instagram: ‘Making time to celebrate @emmahemingwillis today on her birthday! Congrats on launching @maketimewellness at @target. So proud of you and proud to call you family. You are so loved!’ 

The birthday shout out comes after Heming and Willis marked their 17th wedding anniversary on March 21.

Heming celebrated the milestone by sharing a romantic beachside photo of Willis lifting her in Turks and Caicos. 

Alongside the image, she wrote: ‘I was made to love him. 17 years.’

The model has also offered rare insight into how the family is coping during an appearance on Today on May 27, where she discussed her Make Time wellness brand.

‘You know, we’re doing well,’ Heming told host Savannah Guthrie. ‘My husband is supported and loved, and we’re doing the best we can under the circumstances.’

Last year, Heming published a book – titled The Unexpected Journey: Finding Strength, Hope, and Yourself on the Caregiving Path – detailing her experience caring for Willis as well helping caregivers learn to ‘care for themselves while they navigate a loved one’s dementia.’

In March, she also launched The Emma & Bruce Willis Fund which ‘works to confront frontotemporal dementia by raising awareness, funding early-stage research, and supporting caregivers.’ 

Earlier this year, Heming revealed Willis has been living in a home with full-time caretakers. 

She said the Hollywood star also has anosognosia, a condition where the brain can’t recognize one or more other health conditions. 

Speaking in the Conversations with Cam podcast in January, Heming claimed that Willis never connected the dots when it comes to understanding his illness, which she said was a ‘blessing.’  

‘Bruce never, never tapped in,’ she said. ‘I think that’s like the blessing and the curse of this, is that he never connected the dots that he had this disease, and I’m really happy about that. 

‘I’m really happy that he doesn’t know about it.’ Heming described anosognosia as where the brain ‘can’t identify what is happening to it,’ so her husband and others with the disease ‘think this is their normal.’ 

Heming is not the only member of Willis’s tight knit family to provide fans with updates on his dementia battle over the last three years.

In May, the actor’s eldest daughter Rumer Willis shared an upside to watching her father go through the devastating illness.

She said that she gets to see a different side of him that she had never seen in the past. 

‘I’m so grateful I get to go see him,’ she told The Inside Edit about her relationship with her dad post-diagnoses. ‘Even though it’s different now, I’m so grateful.’

About his personality now and a particular trait he developed, Rumer, who welcomed her daughter Louetta, whom Willis became a grandfather to in April 2023, shared: ‘There’s a sweetness.’

‘He’s always been this kind of macho dude and there’s like a – fragile is not the right word but – just a tenderness that maybe being Bruce Willis might not have allowed him in a certain way,’ she explained.

During the on-camera interview, she admitted that she ‘had no idea’ how ‘prevalent’ the progressive neurological disease is until her father received his diagnosis. 

‘It’s wild to me,’ Rumer said. ‘So many people come up to me now and they say, “My uncle had FTD. My dad had this.”‘ 

Back in 2022, Willis’s family announced that he was retiring from acting following his aphasia diagnosis. 

Less than a year later, his FTD diagnosis was revealed via a family statement shared with the Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration. 

FTD is a form of dementia that causes a rapid decline in the areas of the brain linked to personality and language abilities. 

‘While this is painful, it is a relief to finally have a clear diagnosis,’ his family wrote at the time.

They described FTD as a ‘cruel disease’ that ‘can strike anyone.’ 

‘For people under 60, FTD is the most common form of dementia, and because getting the diagnosis can take years, FTD is likely much more prevalent than we know.’ 

His family also noted that Willis ‘would want to respond by bringing global attention and a connectedness with those who are also dealing with this debilitating disease and how it impacts so many individuals and their families.’