Bruce & Demi’s UNBREAKABLE BOND
As Bruce Willis’ condition continues to deteriorate, Demi Moore is right by his side, giving him the strength to go on
In February, Bruce Willis’ family revealed a devastating new diagnosis: A year after the Die Hard star retired from acting after learning he had aphasia — a neurological issue that robs a person of the ability to communicate — doctors confirmed that his condition had progressed to a form of dementia. The news left his wife of 14 years, former model Emma Heming, in “need of community,” she recently told the head of the Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration during a public conversation on the challenges dementia patients and their caregivers face. “Sometimes it feels like you’re just free-falling. This journey can feel very dark.”
But Emma and Bruce have found a source of light as they struggle to navigate the unknown. Demi Moore, Bruce’s ex-wife with whom he shares three adult daughters, has been a constant presence as his condition progresses. “Emma is grateful to have Demi around,” a source close to the family tells In Touch. “It’s been incredibly difficult for Emma to manage Bruce’s care, their two young daughters, and the grief she’s experiencing. So Demi isn’t stepping on her toes. Demi is actually a lifesaver.” Since learning that Bruce has frontotemporal dementia — for which there is no cure or treatment — his family, including Demi, have started preparing themselves to say goodbye. “Demi has stepped in,” says the source, “to make sure every holiday, birthday and get-together is as celebratory as possible.”
HIS ROCK
For Easter, the whole family gathered for a big backyard egg hunt. “We’re in it to win it!” Emma wrote on a video as she showed all the Easter egg hunt participants — including Demi — ready to start the activity. “This past Easter and Christmas may have been Bruce’s last,” says the source.
Demi will do anything to make Bruce’s final months or years happy ones — and
to help Bruce’s daughters make more memories with their father. “Demi threw him a special 68th birthday celebration in March,” says the source. The actress, 60, shared a video on Instagram of a smiling Bruce singing “Happy Birthday” to himself. “He wanted his fans to see it,” says the source. “He wanted to send them a message — that he’ll always find joy in his life, even now.” By his side were their daughters, Rumer, 34, Scout, 31, and Tallulah, 29, as well as Emma, 44, and her girls with Bruce, Mabel, 11, and Evelyn, 8. “It meant the world to Bruce. You could see it in his eyes.”
TOUGH TIMES AHEAD
With the type of dementia Bruce has — it affects behavior, personality, language and movement — it’s difficult to predict how long someone will live. According to the National Institute on Aging, symptoms get worse over time and “some people live more than 10 years after diagnosis, while others live less than two years.”
Bruce’s loved ones “are hoping for the best,” says the source. “The bond between Demi and Bruce is sweet to watch, but Demi and Emma also have this amazing connection. It’s only gotten deeper since Bruce’s decline. Demi has always been on great terms with Emma. They spend holidays and vacations together.” As Demi once said, “We are mothers united, sisters bonded on this crazy adventure of life.”
Demi and Bruce have always been extremely close, even more so after they called it quits. In fact, Demi wrote in her 2019 book, Inside Out: A Memoir, that she and Bruce, who broke up nearly 25 years ago after a decade of marriage, “felt more connected [after our split] than we did before the divorce.”
That solid foundation is more important than ever as Bruce’s condition worsens. There are good days and bad ones where “Bruce can’t say much and it doesn’t seem he’s grasping much of what others say,” an insider recently revealed. “So Emma has been the voice and communicator for him.” There are also days where “they see glimpses of the old Bruce, but they are brief and fleeting,” the insider continued. “It seems like he’s slipping further away from them, and it break their hearts.”
GIVING BACK
Before Bruce’s health crisis intensified, he and Emma planned for the future. In the past five years, he sold nearly $65 million worth of luxury properties around the world, including his prized Turks and Caicos compound for $27 million in 2019. With an estimated net worth upwards of $250 million, Bruce shared his intention to give a large chunk of that — $200 million, says the source — to charity. The Moonlighting star has his own Bruce Willis Charity Foundation, which aims to improve the lives of young people by empowering them to express themselves in creative ways so that they can reach their full potential. “Bruce’s wife and children are already set for life,” a second insider told In Touch last year, “and he wants his money to help the less fortunate.”
STICKING TOGETHER
His family, meanwhile, wants to help one another as they continue to come to terms with the reality of Bruce’s health crisis. “It took years to get answers on what was happening to Bruce and months for the family to accept his diagnosis,” says the source. “It’s been a very long road. This isn’t going to get easier, but they’re grateful that Bruce has the care he needs — and that they have each other.” ￭