Two weeks after revealing she and husband Bruce Willis, 70, no longer live together, Emma Heming Willis, 47, is defending the “hard decision” she made for her family amid his dementia journey in a new September 9 interview.
“You revealed that Bruce is living separately, where he can get help from professional caregivers in a safe and calm environment, but it also created some debate online,” Good Morning America’s Michael Strahan said to Emma. “I knew it would,” she admitted.
“It was a hard decision for us, but that was the safest and best decision not just for Bruce but also for our two young girls,” Emma said, referring to her and Bruce’s two youngest children, Mabel, 13, and Evelyn, 11. Bruce is also the father of daughters Rumer, 37, Scout, 34, and Tallulah, 31, with his ex-wife Demi Moore. Bruce and Emma got married in 2009, 9 years after his split from Moore in 2000.
“And, you know, it’s really not up for a debate,” she added, confident that she made the right choice. “Now I know that Bruce has the best care 100% of the time. His needs are met 100% of the time, as well as our two young daughters’. So I’m not gonna take a vote on that.”
In fact, knowing that it would be a controversial choice is exactly why she shared the information publicly, as well as the reason she wrote her new book, The Unexpected Journey, released on September 9. “Because I feel like caregivers are so judged,” she said. “People sometimes just have an opinion versus really having the experience… You have to do what is right for your family and what is going to keep your loved ones safe, as well as your young children.”
She added that it was actually Bruce’s neurologist who made her realize staying in his family home may not be the best place for Bruce. “She delivered this statistic to me letting me know that sometimes caregivers die before their loved ones,” she recalled. “That was my wake-up call to realize that I need to get help, and I’m not a failure because I need help.”
“I really needed permission for someone to tell me that it’s okay to get help, and that’s what I hope this book does for caregivers,” she concluded. “Gives them the permission to be able to care for themselves.”
Bruce’s family announced in 2022 that the actor was stepping away from his decades-long Hollywood career after being diagnosed with aphasia, a condition that affects speech and communication, after noticing his stutter. A year later, in February 2023, they shared an update revealing that Willis’ condition had progressed, and he had been diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia (FTD), a rare form of dementia that primarily impacts behavior, personality, and language. Emma says she’s been open about the whole situation because she wants people to feel less alone in their own journeys.
“When we received Bruce’s diagnosis, we left that appointment with no hope, no roadmap… there was nothing. No support, no guidance,” she recalled. “I’ve been able to put these incredible experts and specialists around our family… [and I wanted to] put their wisdom and insight into a book to be able to share it with the next caregiver.”
