Bruce Willis’ wife, Emma Heming Willis, says the “stupid headlines” about her husband’s life following his Aphasia diagnosis are “far from the truth.”
In a clip posted to Instagram on Sunday, Heming Willis said she was “triggered” after an unnamed outlet reported that the “Die Hard” star, 68, has “no more joy” after his Aphasia progressed into frontotemporal dementia (FTD).
“I just got clickbaited. I’m just scrolling, minding my own business, and just saw a headline that had to do with my own family,” she began her video message on Instagram. “The headline basically says there is no more joy in my husband. Now, I can just tell you, that is far from the truth.”
She continued, “Stop 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, okay?”
Heming Willis said despite experiencing “grief and sadness,” her family’s “new chapter” is filled with love, connection, joy and happiness.
She added: “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, okay?”.
The British model got married to the “Pulp Fiction” actor in 2009 after two years of dating. The pair share two daughters: Mabel Ray Willis, 11, and Evelyn Penn Willis, 9.
He’s also a dad to daughters Rumer Glenn Willis, 35; Scout LaRue Willis, 32; and Tallulah Belle Willis, 30; whom he welcomed with ex-wife Demi Moore.
Andrew H. Walker via Getty Images
Heming Willis’ more than 925k followers showed support for her in the comments section of her post.
“Completely unfair. There is so much joy ❤,” one person wrote.
Another said, “THIS!! I often told people that my mom and I lived such a full life with her dementia. It is not the end, it’s a NEW CHAPTER so well said.”
“There is JOY!!! Thank you for talking about this. I actively try to push against the tragedy narrative every day,” someone else added.
Heming Willis doubled down on her request for the media to be “mindful” of how they report about dementia in the caption of her post.
“To whom it may concern, please be mindful how you frame your story’s [sic] to the public about dementia and dig deeper. There are so many wonderful organizations and specialist within this space to reach out to so you can really do your due diligence to iron your story and content out.”
Back in March 2022, Willis’ family announced that he was retiring from acting after being diagnosed with aphasia.
Nearly a year later, his family shared an update that his condition had progressed into frontotemporal dementia.
“We are moving through this as a strong family unit, and wanted to bring his fans in because we know how much he means to you, as you do to him. As Bruce always says, ‘Live it up’ and together we plan to do just that,” his family said in a joint statement to the Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration.