Bruce Willis’ Daughters Praise Stepmom Emma Heming for ‘Brave’ Interview About Actor’s Dementia
Scout and Tallulah Willis are celebrating their stepmom, Emma Heming Willis, for her September 25 appearance on the Today show. Heming Willis appeared on the morning show to spread awareness about husband Bruce Willis‘ diagnosis, frontotemporal dementia (FTD), which he received earlier this year.
Heming Willis appeared on Today with Susan Dickinson, head of the Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration (AFTD). “My mission is to raise awareness for frontotemporal dementia,” she wrote on Instagram while sharing her interview with Hoda Kotb. “While this is a heavy subject I feel it’s for the greater good. I’m so very grateful to the @todayshow and @hodakotb for having Susan and I on today to educate and raise awareness about FTD while letting our community know that they are not alone.”
Scout and Tallulah praised their stepmom for stepping into the public eye with this interview. (Heming Willis has kept herself out of the spotlight since marrying the Die Hard star in 2009, along with their two daughters, Mabel, 11, and Evelyn, 9.)
“I truly could not be more proud of @emmahemingwillis for being willing to step out into the public eye, (even though it’s terrifying!!!) to share our family’s story in service of spreading awareness about FTD,” Scout, 32, wrote on her Instagram story (see below), sharing Heming Willis’ interview.
“Emma you are such a champion for this cause and you inspire me EVERY SINGLE F***ING DAY with your bravery and deep loving. Your courage is moving mountains #ftd #ftdawareness,” she continued. Tallulah reshared the same post, adding, “So proud of my family @emmahemingwillis.’”
Scout, Tallulah, and Rumer Willis are the daughters Bruce and Demi Moore, who were married from 1987-2000. The blended family has banded together to help care for Bruce in his time of need, which Heming Willis told Kotb is very much a “family disease.”
Heming Willis gave a health update on her husband during the interview, saying “it’s hard to know” if Bruce is aware of his condition. FTD causes atrophy in the frontal and temporal lobes of the brain, which can cause speech difficulties, emotional changes, and loss of motor skills. Dickinson explained that since the frontal lobe is the center of self-awareness, it’s common for people with FTD to experience personality changes, leading to them being unaware of their illness and its affects.
“What I’m learning is that dementia is hard,” Heming Willis said of her husband’s condition. “It’s hard on the person diagnosed. It’s also hard on the family. And that is no different for Bruce, or myself, or our girls. When they say that this is a family disease, it really is.”
The family is still finding the light amid the difficult moments. In June, Heming Willis shared a sweet video of her, Bruce, and their daughters riding Splash Mountain at Disney World on Instagram. Bruce is beaming in the reel as he shields his daughter from the splashing water. It’s not clear when the video was taken, but looking back on happy memories with her husband is a common thread on Heming Willis’ Instagram.
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“There’s so many beautiful things happening in our lives,” she told Kotb in the interview. “It’s just really important for me to look up from the grief and the sadness so that I can see what is happening around us. Bruce would really want us to be in the joy of what is. He would really want that for me and our family.”
