Bruce Willis’ daughter shares heartbreaking statement as she marks Father’s Day amid actor’s dementia battle
Bruce Willis’s family marked Father’s Day 2025 with heartfelt Instagram tributes as the 70-year-old actor continues his battle with frontotemporal dementia.
Eldest daughter Rumer Willis, 36, and wife Emma Heming Willis both shared emotional posts on Sunday, June 15, reflecting on the challenges of his condition.
The Die Hard star was diagnosed with FTD in 2022, a disease that has no cure and is the most common form of dementia for people under 60.
Both women posted photographs and deeply personal messages about their love for Bruce while acknowledging the difficulties of watching him struggle with the progressive neurological condition.
Their tributes offered glimpses into how the family is coping with the diagnosis that has profoundly altered their lives.
Rumer Willis, the eldest daughter of Bruce and ex-wife Demi Moore, shared childhood photographs alongside a deeply personal message about her struggles to connect with her father.
“Today is hard,” she began her Instagram caption, describing the pain of being unable to communicate with him as she once did.
“I feel a deep ache in my chest to talk to you and tell you everything I’m doing and what’s going on in my life,” the 36-year-old wrote.
She expressed longing to “hug you and ask you about life and your stories and struggles and successes.” The photos included images of Bruce carrying her on his shoulders at the beach and a recent black-and-white portrait of the pair together.
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Rumer continued with a poignant reflection on missed opportunities and her determination to find gratitude despite the pain
“I wish I asked you more questions while you could still tell me about it all,” she wrote. “But I know you wouldn’t want me to be sad today, so I’ll try to just be grateful reminding myself how lucky I am that you’re my dad and that you’re still with me and I can still hold you and hug you and kiss your cheek and rub your head I can tell you stories.”
She also mentioned watching Bruce’s eyes “light up” when he sees her two-year-old daughter, Louetta, whom she shares with ex Derek Richard Thomas.
“I will be grateful for every moment I have with you,” she concluded her post. Emma Heming Willis, Bruce’s current wife, also shared an emotional Father’s Day tribute on Instagram.
She posted a photograph of Bruce cuddling with one of their younger daughters alongside a message dedicated to fathers facing health challenges.
“Happy Father’s Day to all the dads living with disability or disease, showing up in the ways they can and to the children who show up for them,” Emma wrote.
She expressed her deep sorrow about their situation, stating: “I’m profoundly sad today. I wish, with every cell in my body, that things could be different for him and lighter for our family.”
Emma found solace in acceptance, writing: “As they say in our FTD community, ‘It is what it is.’ And while that might sound dismissive, to me, it’s not. It grounds me.”
Bruce’s diagnosis has affected his entire blended family, including daughters Scout LaRue Willis, 33, and Tallulah Belle Willis, 31, whom he shares with Moore.
Emma and Bruce have two daughters together: Mabel Ray Willis, 13, and Evelyn Penn Willis, 11.
In May, Emma revealed to PEOPLE the lack of support the family received following Bruce’s diagnosis. “We received a diagnosis and sent away with no hope, no guidance, no nothing, and I really had to figure out how to put resources into place,” she said. “And it was a lot of searching the Internet, trying to figure things out.”
Emma admitted she initially prioritised everyone else’s needs above her own. “What I’ve learned in all of this is that the most important person is the caregiver,” she reflected.