Emma Heming Willis is shutting down false rumors about her husband Bruce Willis’ dementia battle.
“It’s Sunday morning and I’m triggered. I just got clickbaited,” Heming Willis, 45, began in a Sunday, March 3, Instagram video. “I’m just scrolling, minding my own business and just saw a headline and got clickbaited that had to do with my own family. The headline basically says there is no more joy in my husband. Now, I can just tell you, that is far from the truth.”
Heming Willis went on to call out the headline for “scaring people to think that once they get a diagnosis of some kind of neurocognitive disease that, ‘That’s it. It’s over. Let’s pack it up. Nothing else to see here. We’re done.’ No. It is the complete opposite of that.”
Noting that a loved one’s dementia diagnosis does come with “grief and sadness,” Heming Willis said it also marks a “new chapter” in people’s lives. “It’s filled with love, it’s filled with connection, it’s filled with joy, it’s filled with happiness,” she stated. “That’s where we are. So, stop with these stupid headlines, these stupid clickbaity things that freak people out. Stop doing that. There’s nothing to see here, OK?”
Heming Willis continued her headline criticism in the post’s caption, writing, “My experience is that two things can be true and exist at the same time. Grief and deep love. Sadness and deep connection. Trauma and resilience. I had to get out of my own way to get here but once I arrived, life really started to come together with meaning and I had a true sense of purpose. There is so much beauty and soulfulness in this story.”
Encouraging people to do their own research about dementia awareness, she added, “We are being educated by the wrong people. People that have an opinion versus an experience. People that have not taken the time to properly educate themselves on any kind of neurocognitive disease. Why can I be so bold and say that? Because I see headline after headline and blurbs of misinformation.”
Willis’ family announced in March 2022 that the actor had been diagnosed with aphasia, a rare type of dementia, and would be taking a step back from acting. The following February, Willis’ ex-wife, Demi Moore, revealed that his dementia “progressed” and he had specifically been diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia (FTD).
“Unfortunately, challenges with communication are just one symptom of the disease Bruce faces,” Moore, 61, said in a statement at the time. “While this is painful, it is a relief to finally have a clear diagnosis.” (Willis shares daughters Rumer, 35, Scout, 32, and Tallulah, 30, with Moore, as well as daughters Mabel, 11, and Evelyn, 9, with Heming Willis.)
In an Us Weekly December 2023 cover story, a source exclusively revealed that Willis’ diagnosis has “brought the whole family even closer together,” adding, “No one knows how much time Bruce has left, so they’re soaking up every moment they get with him.”
That same month, Heming Willis commemorated her 16th anniversary with Willis via Instagram. “16 years with this special man,” she captioned photos of the two kissing each other on the cheek. “My love and adoration for him only grows 🤍.”
