Emma Heming Willis and her family are in a “constant state of grief” as they continue to care for Bruce Willis amid his frontotemporal dementia (FTD) diagnosis.
“It is extremely difficult and painful,” Emma, 50, said in a new interview with Hello! magazine published Monday.
“It’s natural — we all want our loved ones to be healthy, full of life and [be] the person they always were. But FTD is a devastating illness that steals things from you very slowly.”
Bruce, 71, was diagnosed with the progressive disease in February 2023, about a year after his family revealed he was stepping away from acting following an aphasia diagnosis.
Emma pointed to the “immense lack of information” about dementia, saying the fact that people often ask whether Bruce still remembers her is “really eye-opening.”
“My answer is always a resounding yes. Bruce doesn’t have Alzheimer’s. He has frontotemporal dementia, which affects a completely different part of the brain,” she added.
Emma told the magazine she would love to see the way dementia is covered in the media shift “once and for all.”
“I wish they’d inform themselves about the different types of dementia and learn to report on them accurately, educating the public rather than feeding fear and stigma,” she said.
Emma also spoke about how Bruce’s children have been “showing up for him” throughout his health journey.
Bruce shares daughters Mabel, 14, and Evelyn, 12, with Emma, whom he married in 2009.
He is also dad to daughters Rumer, 38, Scout, 35, and Tallulah, 32, whom he shares with his ex-wife, Demi Moore.
“Each of them has built her own unique bond with him,” Emma said. “It’s incredible because all five are completely different, but they share the same foundation: Bruce was always an incredibly solid, steadfast presence in their lives.”
Proof of that bond came most recently in August at Tallulah’s wedding to Justin Acee, where Bruce was photographed celebrating with his daughter.
In a black-and-white photo published by Vogue, Bruce was seen wrapping an arm around Tallulah while holding Acee’s hand as Tallulah snuggled into her dad’s shoulder.
Tallulah captioned the sweet image, “A tender moment with my dad, Bruce Willis, and Justin at the start of the wedding weekend.”
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