August 26, 2025
Bruce Willis' wife Emma Heming Willis is sharing insight into his health as he suffers from frontotemporal dementia.
In the preview of the ABC special Emma & Bruce Willis: The Unexpected Journey, the model and author sat down to share insight into the Die Hard star’s current mental condition.
"Bruce is still very mobile. Bruce is in really great health overall, you know," Emma explained. "It's just his brain that is failing him."
The Willis clan announced Bruce’s aphasia diagnosis in 2022 and later revealed that the condition had progressed to frontotemporal dementia.
During the interview, Emma shared that The Sixth Sense star’s speaking ability is almost lost and the family has developed other ways of communicating with him.
"The language is going, and, you know, we've learned to adapt," she said. "And we have a way of communicating with him, which is just a... different way."
However, sometimes, just for a moment, his personality shines through and transports Emma into the past.
"Not days, but we get moments," she said. "It's his laugh, right? Like, he has such a hearty laugh. And, you know, sometimes you'll see that twinkle in his eye, or that smirk, and, you know, I just get, like, transported."
"And it's just hard to see, because as quickly as those moments appear, then it goes. It's hard. But I'm grateful. I'm grateful that my husband is still very much here," she added emotionally.
Bruce Willis and Emma Heming Willis tied the knot in 2009 and share daughters Mabel Ray and Evelyn Penn. Bruce is also dad to Rumer, Scout, and Tallulah, whom he shares with ex-wife Demi Moore.