Days after Bruce Willis's wife Emma Heming Willis lashed out at trolls who criticised her for living separately during the Hollywood action star's frontotemporal dementia battle, his former wife and actor Demi Moore has come out in her support.
After Emma Heming Willis in an interview revealed that Bruce Willis now resides in a home with trained professional caregivers, calling it "the hardest decision" she's ever had to make for her husband's well being, the model-actor was called many names by social media users. She is set to release a memoir on her experiences as a caregiver to Bruce Willis, titled The Unexpected Journey: Finding Strength, Hope, and Yourself on the Caregiving Path.
Now, Oscar-nominated actor Demi Moore -- who was married to Bruce Willis from 1987 to 2000 -- has praised Emma Heming Willis for navigating these testing times with grace.
"There is no road map for how to deal with this. Obviously, being the ex wife, even though our family is very connected, is an interesting position. So much fell on Emma to really figure this whole thing out, and the most beautiful thing, and she talks about this in the book, was recognising the importance for caregivers that they have to take care of themselves. And if they don't put that time into making sure that they're okay, then they can't show up for anyone else," The Substance star said of Emma Heming Willis who married Bruce Willis in 2009.
"I have so much compassion for Emma in this, being a young woman. There's no way that anybody could have anticipated where this was going to go. And I really think she's done a masterful job. She has been so dedicated to forging the right path. She's had equal amounts of fear and strength and courage in navigating this. I think that this book is gonna really be very helpful for a lot of people who are walking through this," Demi Moore said on an episode of The Oprah Podcast with host Oprah Winfrey.
The actor, who has remained close with Bruce Willis despite divorce, said it has been "difficult" for her to witness her former husband's decline right in front of her eyes in recent years.
"It's hard to see somebody who was so, you know, vibrant and strong and so directed shift into this other parts of themself. But, my particular perspective is - one, I really always say it's so important just to meet them where they're at. Don't have an expectation of them needing to be who they were or who you want them to be. And when you do that, I find that there is an incredible sweetness and something that's soft and tender and loving," she added.
Demi Moore and Bruce Willis share daughters Rumer, 37, Scout, 34, and Tallulah, 31. Bruce Willis and Emma also share two daughters, Mabel Ray, 13, and Evelyn Penn, 11.
Bruce Willis, known for the Die Hard film franchise as well as movies like Pulp Fiction, Death Becomes Her, and The Sixth Sense, was first diagnosed with aphasia in 2022, and a year later his condition advanced to frontotemporal dementia, a condition that affects speech and comprehension but leaves Bruce physically active.