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Bruce Willis’s wife Emma Heming Willis has hit back at trolls who criticised her decision to move the actor out of their family home as his condition progresses.
Emma, 47, announced this week that the 70-year-old Die Hard actor, who has frontotemporal dementia (FTD), would have wanted their daughters’ lives to be unaffected by adjustments in their living space.
“Too often, caregivers are judged quickly and unfairly by those who haven’t lived this journey or stood on the front lines of it,” she said on Instagram after receiving flak online.
Model and entrepreneur Emma, who described the choice as the “hardest decision”, added that she expected judgement and criticism, but shared the update as “it creates connection and validation for those actually navigating the realities of caregiving every day”.
“That’s who I share for and so I can build a deeper connection with a community that understands this journey,” she said.
Emma added that those who criticise often “don’t have the experience to back it up”, which she said strips their viewpoint of effect.
“The truth is, the opinions are so loud and they’re so noisy, but if they don’t have any experience of this, they don’t get a say.”
Willis is now living with a full-time care team in a one-storey home as his condition develops and his needs become more complex and intensive.
According to the NHS, frontotemporal dementia, which Willis was diagnosed with in February 2023, affects behaviour and language, and gets worse over time.
“He would want them to be in a home that was more tailored to their needs, not his needs,” she told Diane Sawyer in the ABC special Emma & Bruce Willis: The Unexpected Journey.
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Emma Heming Willis has been caring for her husband Bruce Willis since his dementia diagnosis in February 2023 (Getty Images)
Emma married the Pulp Fiction actor in 2009, and the couple has two daughters, 13-year-old Mabel and 11-year-old Evelyn.
Emma said she has tried to ensure continuity for the family by taking their daughters to have breakfast and dinner with their dad.
“When we go over, either we’re outside, or were watching a movie,” she explained. “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.”
Providing an update on the star’s health, she added: “Bruce is still very mobile. Bruce is in really great health overall. It’s just his brain that is failing him.”
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Emma Heming Willis responds to trolls who criticised her for moving husband Bruce Willis into a home (Instagram)
She explained that his language abilities are “going”, but the family have “learned to adapt”.
She has written a new book about her experience titled The Unexpected Journey: Finding Strength, Hope, and Yourself on the Caregiving Path.
“We have a way of communicating with him, which is just a… different way.”
Willis has maintained a strong relationship with his ex-wife, Demi Moore, with whom he shares three children: Rumer, Scout, and Tallulah. The family have described the condition as a “cruel disease” with no cure.
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Emma Heming Willis said caregivers ‘are judged quickly and unfairly’ (Instagram)
Earlier this year, Rumer, 37, opened up about the challenges of not being able to converse with her father as she once used to.
In a Father’s Day post, she wrote: “Today is hard, I feel a deep ache in my chest to talk to you and tell you everything I’m doing and what’s going on in my life. To hug you and ask you about life and your stories and struggles and successes.
“I wish I asked you more questions while you could still tell me about it all.”