Emma Heming Willis is opening up about one of the most difficult choices she’s had to make since her husband Bruce Willis was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia (FTD).
Bruce, 70, and Emma, 47, married in March 2009. In 2022, Emma shared that Bruce had been diagnosed with aphasia. Less than a year later, doctors confirmed he had FTD, a brain disorder that can affect speech, movement, and personality. Through it all, Emma has stayed by his side.
In an ABC special, Emma and Bruce Willis: The Unexpected Journey, which aired on Aug. 26, Emma told Diane Sawyer that Bruce now lives in a separate home.
“I knew, first and foremost, Bruce would want that for our daughters,” she explained about their girls, Mabel Ray, 13, and Evelyn Penn, 11. “He would want them to be in a home that was more tailored to their needs, not his needs.”
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Bruce and Emma welcomed Mabel in April 2012 and Evelyn in May 2014. Bruce is also the father of three adult daughters with his ex-wife, Demi Moore, 62.
According to Sawyer, the family decided some time ago to move the Die Hard actor into a one-story home nearby. The house is safer for him and easier for his 24-hour care team to manage.
The choice came after Emma began to limit visitors at their family home. She discovered that loud noise often upset Bruce, so she stopped hosting playdates and sleepovers for the girls.
“I didn’t know if parents would feel comfortable leaving their kid at our home,” she admitted. “I isolated our whole family, and that was by design…That was a hard time.”
Relocating Bruce has allowed the blended family and friends to spend more quality time with him. Emma visits for breakfast and again at night.
“We’re there a lot,” she said. “It’s our second home, so the girls have their things there.”
She added: “It is, you know, a house that is filled with love and warmth and care and laughter. It’s been beautiful to see that, to see how many of Bruce’s friends continue to show up for him. They bring life and fun.”
Sawyer, who has interviewed Bruce many times before, was invited into the home without cameras. She described him as looking “happy” and “healthy.”
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“Bruce is still very mobile,” Emma said. “Bruce is in really great health, overall, it’s just his brain that is failing him.”
“The language is going, and, you know, we’ve learned to adapt,” she added. “We have a way of communicating with him, which is just a different, a different way.”
Emma’s book, The Unexpected Journey: Finding Strength, Hope and Yourself on the Caregiving Path, will be released on Sept. 9 and is available now for preorder wherever books are sold.
