Demi Moore is having one of the greatest professional years of her life. She started out with a scene-stealing supporting role in Feud: Capote vs. The Swans. Since then, she’s been garnering heaps of praise for her starring, shocking turn in The Substance, for which she just scored a Golden Globe nomination. It’s been so much fun seeing her (and little Pilaf!) hustle for this film. She’s been doing a great job of balancing being damn proud of her work, while still being grateful. I think part of that grounding comes with age and having lived a full life. And one of the facts of her life right now, is her family dealing with Bruce Willis’s frontotemporal dementia (FTD). Even though they’ve been divorced for a long time, Demi is still very close with Bruce and his wife Emma Heming Willis. She talked about Bruce’s health, consciously deciding to remain a family post-divorce, and more in a new interview with Christiane Amanpour:
Demi Moore is giving an update on Bruce Willis’ health.
The Substance actress spoke with Christiane Amanpour for an interview on CNN that aired Thursday, Dec. 5, about her ex-husband, who was previously diagnosed with aphasia that progressed to frontotemporal dementia (FTD).
“Given the givens, he’s in a very stable place at the moment,” said Moore, 62. “And I’ve shared this before, but I really mean this so sincerely: It’s so important for anybody who’s dealing with this to really meet them where they’re at.”
“And from that place, there is such loving and joy,” she added.
Moore, who was married to Willis, 69, from 1987 to 2000, also told Amanpour that the situation is “very difficult” and “not what I would wish upon anyone,” including a feeling of “great loss.”
“But there is also great beauty and gifts that can come out of it,” the Now and Then actress added.
Willis and Moore share three daughters — Rumer, 36, Scout, 33, and Tallulah, 30 — while the Die Hard actor is also dad to two younger daughters with wife Emma Heming Willis: Mabel, 12, and Evelyn, 10.
Addressing their supportive joint dynamic with Amanpour, 66, Moore said, “That has been very important to me even from when Bruce and I had separated and divorced, is the recognition that we’re a family, and we’ll always be a family, just in a different form.”
“And that form may kind of evolve and change, and there is a way in which we can all be in that form,” she added. “And I’m grateful, ‘cause it’s not just me — it has to require everybody to be coming together. And it’s lovely.”
Speaking exclusively to PEOPLE at the 2024 Gotham Awards on Monday, Dec. 2, Moore also said she has grown to have more self-acceptance over the years, revealing that one of her children also consciously chooses to walk down the same path.
“My middle daughter Scout, in many of our conversations, she kind of succinctly put it. She said, ‘I want to quit wasting time focusing on all that I’m not, when I could be celebrating all that I am,’” Moore recalled at Cipriani Wall Street in New York City.
I continue to be impressed with the way the women in Bruce’s life are rallying around him with love, while also protecting his privacy. Demi doesn’t really divulge any specifics here, in fact this emphasis on meeting the person where they’re at is a phrasing she’s used before to talk about Bruce. I think it’s a thoughtful way to speak of Bruce positively, without disrespecting his privacy. And it also subtly redirects the focus, making the conversation less about the intimacies of how Bruce is doing, and more about how the rest of us can relate to people going through FTD and other illnesses. I’m wishing their big beautiful family all the love and grace for a joyful holiday season. And then I’m wishing for another knockout outfit when Demi hits the Golden Globes red carpet on January 5, ideally with Pilaf as her date.
“Given the givens, [Bruce Willis] is in a very stable place at the moment,” says Demi Moore, who was previously married to him. “It’s very difficult and not what I would wish upon anyone, and there is great loss – but there’s also great beauty and gifts that can come out of it.” pic.twitter.com/SVOiDsg6Fj
— Christiane Amanpour (@amanpour) December 5, 2024
Photos via Instagram and credit: Dave Allocca/Starpix/INSTARimages, Nicky Nelson/Wenn/Avalon
Her comments about being a family even post divorce and about everyone working to create that new family structure really resonate with me. It’s conscious uncoupling without the look at me look at me smugness.
It speaks very well of all of the people in Bruce Willis’s life that were able to do this.
And now, they’re being so loving and protective while also sharing in a way that could benefit others going through similar difficult things.
More power to them.
It’s good to see that they’re all able to be there for Bruce, not only Emma but also Demi and the three older daughters.
Let’s hope they’ll continue to be a presence for Mabel and Evelyn when Bruce is no longer around, if Emma wants it, to give them stability growing up and help them cope.
I think they will be. They all seem really close. I doubt Bruce’s oldest daughters would abandon their little sisters.
I can relate actually. I stayed close to my ex and his family in order to keep my oldest and his father together. Thirty something years later, my husband and two other kids celebrate life’s events with my ex and my oldest’s family. It’s just what we do. I dunno about NOW (I’ve moved out of my state permanently lmao).
Demi’s a good woman.
They have always seemed close as a family unit which is why their support of him and each other through this terrible time is not surprising but still heart warming to hear.
Separately, her face is looking SO much better.
Evil Carl! Take your hands off Molly!
LOL took my pottery class this morning so have Ghost on the brain.