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Tallulah Willis, the daughter of Demi Moore and Bruce Willis, has shared some of the abusive trolling she regularly receives on social media – which she says once made her “almost starve to death”.
On her Instagram, 32-year-old Willis shared a screen recording of numerous comments about her appearance, among them “she is not easy on the eyes”, or suggesting she has “some sort of medical issue”.
“People seem shocked – genuinely – when I share my experience being called ‘medically disfigured’ or ‘something to fear’,” Willis captioned the recording. “I don’t often read these things, but when I do I remember why I almost starved to death after a lifetime of disordered eating.”
Willis first spoke about her experiences with disordered eating in 2023, writing in a personal essay for Vogue that she had been diagnosed with anorexia nervosa.
That same year she told Drew Barrymore on her US talk show that she “very visibly was struggling with an eating disorder and because of the age of social media … there was actually a tremendous amount of concern for me that I got on my Instagram.”
(Getty)
Willis said that her disorder arose after she’d been diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) as well as borderline personality disorder. The former diagnosis came at the age of 25, and she was prescribed a medication that came with “appetite-suppressant side effect”.
On her Instagram, Willis finished off her caption by acknowledging the importance of kindness.
“I take pride in [the] fact that I choose kindness everyday, but I just hope to share with you all the realities that someone who has been unstoppably vulnerable in sharing their ups and downs still gets treated like this on certain corners of the internet.”
In September, Willis shared a sweet photo of her dad Bruce amid his dementia diagnosis and care.
The 71-year-old Die Hard star was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia (FTD) in 2023, after initially being diagnosed with aphasia the previous year. The progressive neurological condition affects the brain’s frontal and temporal lobes and can cause changes in behaviour, communication, speech and movement.
Bruce has stepped back from the spotlight following his diagnosis and has only been photographed on occasion, most recently at Tallulah’s August wedding to musician Justin Acee.
In Tallulah’s post, she is seen planting a kiss on her father’s head. She captioned the photograph “so cute!”.
Tallulah Willis’s photo with her dad Bruce (Tallulah Willis/Instagram)
Bruce has largely kept a low profile since his dementia diagnosis. In January, his wife Emma Heming Willis said that the actor “doesn’t know” that he has the degenerative disease, as one of the neurological symptoms includes anosognosia, which prevents a person from accurately recognising their own illness.
Tallulah, 32, is the youngest of the star’s three daughters with his former wife Demi Moore. Her elder sisters are Rumer, 37, and Scout, 35.
Bruce has two younger daughters – Mabel, 14, and Evelyn, 12 – with Heming Willis, who married the star in 2009.
For anyone struggling with the issues raised in this article, eating disorder charity Beat’s helpline is available 365 days a year on 0808 801 0677. NCFED offers information, resources and counselling for those suffering from eating disorders, as well as their support networks. Visit eating-disorders.org.uk or call 0845 838 2040