Bruce Willis’ wife breaks silence after health shock
Bruce Willis’ wife has opened up about her husband’s health battle as the star’s daughter says she’s “overwhelmed” by the support for her famous dad.
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Bruce Willis’ wife, Emma Heming, thanked fans for their outpouring of love after announcing the actor was diagnosed with aphasia.
“Your love, support, compassion, prayers really help. I’m grateful. Thank you from the bottom of my heart,” Heming wrote in an Instagram story.
Willis and Heming married in March 2009 and share two daughters together: Mabel, 10, and Evelyn, 7.
Ahead of the news of her husband’s diagnosis, the model shared a photo to Instagram on March 21 in which she and Willis had tears in their eyes at their wedding.
“13 years ago, those wedding speeches really sent us over the edge,” she wrote.
The Emmy winner also shares three daughters — Rumer, 33, Scout, 30, and Tallulah, 28 — with ex-wife Demi Moore, to whom he was married from November 1987 to October 2000.
It comes as Willis’ daughter Scout shared a private photo of her and her famous dad, saying she “never could have anticipated the depth and breadth of the love we received as a family” after Willis’ condition became public.
“I didn’t know how it would be received, there is always an unknown when sharing out so vulnerably into the world. I’d hoped for some love and compassion, but I truly NEVER could have anticipated the depth and breadth of the love we received as a family,” Scout wrote via Instagram.
“It kept hitting me how much love, energy, and prayers were now being sent to my daddio and just humbling me in a way that’s brings tears as I write this. I am so grateful for your love, I’m so grateful to hear about what my papa means to you.
“Thank you so much to everyone who reached out to me yesterday, I love and I appreciate you with all my heart, it’s gonna take me a whole to respond to your messages!”
Willis’ family announced in a statement earlier this week that he would be “stepping away from the career that has meant so much to him” due to aphasia, a condition that affects the ability to communicate.
“This is a really challenging time for our family and we are so appreciative of your continued love, compassion and support,” the family said. “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.”
It has been reported that 67-year-old Willis had been having trouble remembering his lines on the sets of his recent films.
“He was having cognitive problems; they all knew Bruce was having problems,” an insider told us. “Everybody knew, the cast and crew. His family has stepped in; they moved in to take care of him.”
The source added that the “Die Hard” star was using “earpieces … for them to feed him the lines” and that “it was increasingly difficult to have him on screen.” Additionally, a body double was apparently being used, not just for stunts but to “maximise” his screen time.
“He could not act anymore,” the insider said.
AWARD CANNED AFTER BRAIN DIAGNOSIS
It comes as an award to be given to Willis for “worst performance in 2021” is being rescinded following the revelation the Hollywood legend has the brain disorder aphasia.
In a statement to the New York Post, the co-founders of The Razzie Awards John Wilson and Mo Murphy, said: “After much thought and consideration, the Razzies have made the decision to rescind the Razzie Award given to Bruce Willis, due to his recently disclosed diagnosis.”
The 67-year-old Die Hard star’s family announced on Wednesday he was retiring from acting immediately after he was diagnosed with the brain condition, which affects his ability to understand language.
The US actor is nominated for eight separate performances in movies released in 2021, and even received his own ‘special category’ at this year’s Razzies, ‘Worst Performance by Bruce Willis.’
Wilson and Murphy added: “If someone’s medical condition is a factor in their decision making and/or their performance, we acknowledge that it is not appropriate to give them a Razzie.”
The organisers also told the publication that they will be taking back The Shining star Shelley Duvall’s Razzie as well.
“As we recently mentioned in a Vulture interview, extenuating circumstances also apply to Shelley Duvall in ‘The Shining’,” they added.
“We have since discovered that Duvall’s performance was impacted by Stanley Kubrick’s treatment of her throughout the production. We would like to take this opportunity to rescind that nomination as well,” the note concluded.
WILLIS MISFIRED GUN TWICE ON SET
Willis alarmed movie staffers two years ago when he misfired a gun loaded with a blank – and last year perplexingly asked what he was doing on a film set, according to a report.
Nearly two dozen sources spoke to the Los Angeles Times about the star’s declining health, after he exhibited signs of decline on set in recent years.
Vanderpump Rules star Lala Kent, who previously worked with Willis when she played his daughter in the film Hard Kill, spoke to the outlet about how the action hero unexpectedly fired a gun on the wrong cue while on set in 2020.
“I’m supposed to think my life is about to end, and then my dad steps in to save the day,” she said.
Willis was supposed to deliver a line that served as her cue to duck before he fired a gun – but he discharged the firearm without uttering the line, according to the report.
“Because my back was to him, I wasn’t aware of what was happening behind me. But the first time, it was like, ‘No big deal, let’s reset,’” Kent told the paper.
She said that although she asked director Matt Eskandari to remind Willis to say his line before firing again in the next take, the same thing happened.
In another incident on the set, Willis fired a gun on the wrong cue according to the outlet, which cited two people familiar with the incident.
No one was hurt and the movie’s producer disputed that the incident occurred, but the actors and crew members were alarmed by the alleged discharge from the firearm, according to the report.
On the set of the upcoming thriller White Elephant, crew members recall that at one moment Willis said: “I know why you’re here, and I know why you’re here, but why am I here?”
Terri Martin, the film’s production supervisor said: “He just looked so lost, and he would say, ‘I’ll do my best.’
“He always tried his best. He is one of the all-time greats, and I have the utmost admiration and respect for his body of work, but it was time for him to retire.”
The film’s director Jesse Johnson explained Willis’ team told him that “it would be best if we could finish shooting him by lunch and let him go early.”
A body double was also used in most action scenes, particularly those that involved the use of prop guns, the LA Times reported.
NET WORTH REVEALED
Willis is thought to be worth $A334m after being consistently one of Hollywood’s highest-paid leading men throughout his career.
He earned $A133,6m from the Sixth Sense, after receiving a cut of the film’s earnings, which makes that payday the highest ever in Hollywood history.
Willis has been earning tens of millions of dollars for each movie sine the late 1980s. He was paid $13.6m for Look who’s Talking in 1998, and the huge pay cheques kept rolling in from there.
CELEBRITIES PAY TRIBUTE
John Travolta paid tribute to his friend and former co-star following the actor‘s aphasia diagnosis.
Travolta, 68, who starred in the cult classic Pulp Fiction and rom-com Look Who’s Talking with Willis, praised the “generous soul” in an Instagram post on Thursday.
“Bruce and I became good friends when we shared 2 of our biggest hits together, Pulp Fiction and Look Who’s Talking,” Travolta wrote on Instagram.
“Years later he said to me, ‘John, I just want you to know that when something good happens to you I feel like it’s happening to me.’ That’s how generous a soul he is. I love you Bruce.”
The post contained two photos of the actors together, including one of them wearing black as they posed with Willis’ arm around Travolta’s shoulder.
Numerous stars have sent Willis their love on Twitter in the wake of the diagnosis, including Sylvester Stallone, Sarah Paulson, director Len Wiseman, and Jenna Dewan.
On Wednesday, Willis’ daughter Rumer, 33, took to Instagram to reveal her father’s diagnosis.
“To Bruce’s amazing supporters, as a family we wanted to share that our beloved Bruce has been experiencing some health issues and has recently been diagnosed with aphasia, which is impacting his cognitive abilities.
“As a result of this and with much consideration Bruce is stepping away from the career that has meant so much to him,” the family said in a statement posted to social media.
“This is a really challenging time for our family and we are so appreciative of your continued love, compassion and support. 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,” the statement, which was signed by his wife, Emma Heming, his ex-wife, Demi Moore, and his five children, Rumer, 33, Scout, 30, Tallulah, 28, Mabel, 9, and Evelyn, 7.
According to the Mayo Clinic, aphasia often occurs after a stroke or a head injury, and “robs you of the ability to communicate”.
“It can affect your ability to speak, write and understand language, both verbal and written.”
According to the New York Post, Willis has multiple film projects completed as well in post-production, including Vendetta, Fortress: Sniper’s Eye and White Elephant.
It is unclear what will happen with Fortress 3, which is currently in pre-production.
Throughout the pandemic, the Die Hard star’s blended family — including Moore and Heming — have been holed up at their Idaho compound.
While the arrangement felt odd to outsiders, Moore said she considered Heming to be her “sister”.
“Our children are sisters and yet there is no name for what our family connection is to one another,” Moore wrote on Instagram in March 2021 in honour of International Women’s Day. “We are mothers united, sisters bonded on this crazy adventure of life. Emma is a beautiful mother dedicated to her family, an absolutely gorgeous woman and now she can add business entrepreneur to her resume.
“Her drive, determination and passion is uplifting and the woman that she is absolutely inspiring,” she wrote.
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