Demi Moore is in her family’s corner, and that includes Bruce and Emma Heming Willis.
Moore has been public over the years about her blended family with her ex-husband – with whom she shares three daughters – and now she is coming out in support of his wife Heming Willis.
During a recently released episode of Oprah Winfrey’s podcast, Moore talked about about the challenges of Willis living with frontotemporal dementia, telling Winfrey that “being the ex-wife, even though our family is very connected, is an interesting position.”
“So much fell on Emma to really figure this whole thing out and the most beautiful thing… was recognizing the importance for caregivers is that they have to take care of themselves,” Moore said. “If they don’t put that time into making sure that they’re okay, then they can’t show up for anyone else.”
Moore’s comments came on the heels of Heming Willis appearing with ABC’s Diane Sawyer for a special titled “Emma & Bruce Willis: The Unexpected Journey.”
In it, Heming Willis shared that her husband’s illness led to “one of the hardest decisions I’ve had to make,” which was to move Willis to a separate, one-story home where he could receive around-the-clock care.
According to the Mayo Clinic, frontotemporal dementia (FTD) is an “umbrella term for a group of brain disorders that primarily affect the frontal and temporal lobes of the brain. These areas of the brain are generally associated with personality, behavior and language.”
Moore, who was married to Willis from 1987 to 2000, said during the podcast this week that when it comes to his current wife, she has “so much compassion for Emma in this, being a young woman.”
“There’s no way that anybody could have anticipated where this was going to go and I really think she’s done a masterful job,” Moore said. “She has been so dedicated to forging the right path. She’s had equal amounts of fear and strength and courage in navigating this.”
Watching Willis go through his struggle has been difficult, Moore said.
“It’s hard to see somebody who was so vibrant and strong and so directed shift into this other part of themselves,” she said. “My particular perspective is, one I really always say it’s so important just to meet them where they’re at.”
Heming Willis married the “Sixth Sense” star in 2009 and they are parents to two daughters, Mabel, 13, and Evelyn, 11.
Heming Willis’ book about their family experience with FTD, titled “The Unexpected Journey,” comes out September 9, and Moore said she believes the book will be extremely helpful to others.
