The wife of Hollywood legend Bruce Willis has claimed that he’s completely unaware of his regressed health situation. Three years since being diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia, the Die Hard and Pulp Fiction favorite (who retired in 2022) is said to still be capable of recognizing his loved ones, with his brain yet to realize what’s really going on. Emma Heming Willis revealed as much during her appearance on the Conversations with Cam podcast yesterday (January 28).
“They think this is their normal. There is this neurological condition that comes with FTD and other types of dementia that’s called anosognosia, where your brain can’t identify what is happening to it. Where people think this might be denial, like where they don’t want to go to the doctor because ‘I’m fine.’ It’s actually… this is the anosognosia that comes into play… Bruce never tapped in. He never connected the dots that he had this disease. I’m really happy about that. I’m really happy he doesn’t know about it.”
Heming Willis, who married the actor in 2009 and with whom she shares two daughters, also told podcaster Cameron Oaks Rogers that her 70-year-old husband remains “present in his body.” He connects with the family in a “very beautiful and meaningful” way even though it’s different to how others do so with their own. “You just learn how to adapt,” added Willis’ wife.
Don’t Believe Everything You Read About Bruce Willis’ Condition
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In light of harmful rumors spreading last summer, it’s important to remember that the Willis family is going through something so personally earth-shaking that any exteriorly-sourced information about the A-lister’s condition should be taken with a huge pinch of salt. Why would they start feeding the tabloids when all they’ve done so far is produce touching public updates? One viral report originating from The Express Tribune claimed that he was “no longer able to communicate in any meaningful way”, but what does this achieve apart from distressing those closest to him? Of course, verification was never provided from those at ground zero, and let’s not dismiss the fact that ‘meaningful’ is a totally subjective consideration.
His wife previously took part in a televised ABC special, titled Emma & Bruce Willis: The Unexpected Journey, in which she provided broadcaster Diane Sawyer with some promising insights. At that moment in time (August 2025), Willis was “in really great health overall” and still “very active.” She caveated: “The language is going, and, you know, we’ve learned to adapt. And we have a way of communicating with him, which is just a different, a different way.” Asked by Sawyer if he still recognizes his nearest and dearest, Heming Willis replied:
“I feel he does, right? Like, I know he does. When we are with him… he lights up, right? He’s holding our hands. We’re kissing him. We’re hugging him. He is reciprocating. You know, he is into it. And so that’s all I need, you know? I don’t need him to know that I am his wife, and we were married on this day, and this is what it is. I don’t need any of that. I just wanna feel that I have a connection with him. And I do.”
- Birthdate
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March 19, 1955
- Birthplace
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Idar-Oberstein, West Germany
- Birthname
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Walter Bruce Willis
