Actress Demi Moore says Bruce Willis is “stable” amid his battle with dementia and frontotemporal dementia.
The 61-year-old spoke about her ex-husband’s declining health while accepting the Career Achievement in Acting Award at the 2024 Hamptons International Film Festival in New York City on Sunday, Oct. 13.
“You know, I’ve said this before. The disease is what the disease is,” she said of his recent diagnoses. “And I think you have to be in real deep acceptance of what that is. But for where he’s at, he is stable.”
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Willis retired from acting in March 2022 after being diagnosed with aphasia, a language disorder that affects a person’s ability to understand and express written or spoken language, according to Mayo Clinic.
He was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia (FTD) nearly a year later. FTD “is an umbrella term for a group of brain diseases that mainly affect the frontal and temporal lobes of the brain. These areas of the brain are associated with personality, behavior and language.”
Demi, who shares Rumer Willis, 36, Scout Willis, 33, and Tallulah Willis, 30, with Bruce, went on to explain how she continues to support Bruce and their blended family, even after the diagnoses.
“What I always encourage is to just meet them where they’re at,” she continued. “When you’re holding on to what was, I think it’s a losing game. But when you show up to meet them where they’re at, there is great beauty and sweetness.”
Moore still makes an effort to spend time with Willis
Willis and Moore tied the knot at the Golden Nugget Las Vegas in November 1987 before announcing their split in June 1998. They filed for divorce two years later and it was finalized in October 2000.
Despite their divorce, the two have maintained a cordial relationship as they co-parent their children.
“I was there two days ago with my granddaughter,” Moore said at the film festival on Sunday. “And being able to share with whatever we have, for however long we have it.”
Moore and Willis became grandparents for the first time last April when their eldest daughter, Rumer, gave birth to a daughter of her own with ex-boyfriend Derek Richard Thomas.
Louetta Isley Thomas Willis was born on April 18, 2023.
Bruce also shares two younger children, Mabel Ray Willis, 12, and Evelyn Penn Willis, 10, with current wife Emma Hemming Willis. The couple tied the knot on March 21, 2009 with Moore in attendance.
Moore shared similar message in last month’s health update
Moore’s recent update at the Hamptons International Film Festival came just one month after she spoke about Willis’s dementia battle during an interview on The Drew Barrymore Show on Sept. 13.
Her message was a similar one when speaking to Barrymore.
“Given the givens, he is in a stable place,” she said. “What I say to my kids is you meet them where they’re at. You don’t hold on to who they were or what you want them to be, but who they are in this moment.”
She went on to admit that she visits Willis every week when she’s in Los Angeles, adding that she “really treasure[s] the time that we all share.”
On Sept. 30, Tallulah shared a series of photos of her and her father on Instagram.
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“Hey I love this guy so much and feeling feelings is tough stuff, but I’m so grateful to let them flow through me now instead of disconnecting from it! From the forever archives,” she wrote in the caption.