Emma Heming Willis says she's not using husband's dementia for fame
Bruce Willis' wife, Emma Heming Willis, says she's "always going to advocate for my husband," whose diagnosis of an untreatable form of dementia was announced in February. Credit: Getty Images / Jamie McCarthy
Emma Heming Willis, wife of screen icon Bruce Willis, is responding to apparent social-media accusations that her advocacy for her husband as he contends with frontotemporal dementia (FTD) is a bid for attention.
“I just saw something about me getting my ‘five minutes’ [of fame], which is great, which means that you’re listening," the 44-year-old entrepreneur and former fashion model said in an Instagram video — one of three this week, one of which urged empathy for caretakers of those with dementia, the other expressing dismay over paparazzi following Bruce Willis. "So I’m going to take my five minutes and I’m going to turn it into 10 because I’m always going to advocate for my husband. And while I'm at it I'm going to raise awareness around FTD and for caregivers, who are unsung heroes out there.
"And then — and then — I’m going to turn my grief and my anger and my sadness and do something good around something that feels less than. So watch this space because I didn’t come to play.”
In the video's accompanying caption she wrote, "Just over here turning my 5 mins into 10. I’ve sat around quietly for too long and I’m so ready to be embraced by this solid and loving community my family and I find ourselves in while trying to lift them up in return. Let’s go."
On Wednesday on Instagram Stories, where messages cycle out after 24 hours, Heming Willis posted a tabloidy headline reading, "Demi Moore 'Moved In' with Ex Bruce Willis & His Wife to Help Care for Him After Heartbreaking Dementia Diagnosis: Source," and wrote underneath it, "Let's nip this one in the bud. This is so dumb. Please stop."
Willis' family had announced in March of last year that the two-time Emmy Award winner and star of the "Die Hard" film franchise, "Pulp Fiction" and many other movies was suffering from what was initially diagnosed as aphasia, a brain disorder that affects the language centers, and subsequently was retiring from acting.
Then last month they announced an updated diagnosis of FTD, a form of dementia with no treatment. "As Bruce’s condition advances," they wrote in a statement, "we hope that any media attention can be focused on shining a light on this disease that needs far more awareness and research.
Willis, who turns 68 on March 19, and Heming Willis celebrate their 14th wedding anniversary on March 27. They are the parents of daughters Mabel, 10, and Evelyn, 8. Willis additionally has daughters Rumer, 34, Scout, 31, and Tallulah, 29, with Moore, to whom he was married from 1987 until separating in 2000 and later divorcing.
