Bruce Willis Jokes Around And Speaks Publicly For First Time Since Being Diagnosed With Dementia

Mar 21, 2023

Bruce Willis is one of the most legendary Hollywood actors of all time. He is most famous for his roles in action films including the "Die Hard" franchise, as well as notable roles in "Pulp Fiction," "Armageddon" and "The Sixth Sense," among many others. During his nearly 40-year career, Bruce showed off quite a diverse set of talents, as he appeared in films and television shows in a variety of genres and even showed off his skills as a singer. 

On top of that, Bruce is also adored for his amazing qualities as a husband and father. Bruce first married actress Demi Moore in 1987, and the two had three daughters together: Rumer, Scout and Tallulah Willis. Although the couple was regarded as a Hollywood powerhouse at the time, Bruce and Moore divorced in 2000. They have, however, remained good friends and great co-parents ever since.

Then in 2009, Bruce married model Emma Heming and the couple went on to have two daughters together, Mabel and Evelyn Penn. In a heartwarming turn of events, Bruce, Heming and their daughters frequently hang out with Moore and their daughters as a large blended family. 

However, tragedy struck when Bruce's family announced he was retiring from acting in March 2022 after being diagnosed with aphasia, a language disorder caused by damage in a specific area of the brain that controls language expression and comprehension. 

Bruce's family all banded together around him to love and support him through his difficult transition, but in February 2023, they came together again to announce more devastating news — he'd also been diagnosed with dementia.

However, the blended family came together again on March 19, 2023, to celebrate Bruce's 68th birthday. Moore posted a short video that showed Bruce in high spirits, alongside his loved ones, where he even spoke for the first time since his dementia diagnosis became public.

The video, which was posted to Moore's Instagram, showed Bruce in good spirits, as all of his loved ones sang "Happy Birthday." The actor then blew out the candles on his cake, before his family erupted into laughter. Moore captioned the video:

"Happy birthday, BW! So glad we could celebrate you today. Love you and love our family. Thank you to everyone for the love and warm wishes — we all feel them."

Bruce was joined by his wife, Heming, 44, and their two daughters, Moore, 60, and their three daughters, as well as two male friends, including Derek Richard Thomas, Rumer's partner with whom she is expecting her first child.

The "Die Hard" actor appeared to be in great spirits as he sang along to his birthday song and even added his own humorous spin on the classic jingle. While singing, he held an end note for an extended moment before he said, "Just like that." He then ended the song with "Woohoo" followed by multiple "woos" and "right at it." Bruce and his family were incredibly joyful during the special family moment, as many of them began laughing at the end of the song, while someone said, "That was so funny!"

From the video, it's clear to see Bruce and his family thoroughly enjoying themselves as they celebrated his birthday, despite the sadness surrounding his current situation. It's been a hard time for the actor and his loved ones in the last year but to see him speaking and even making jokes among his closest family members is truly special. 

Moore shared more photos of the special birthday celebration on her Instagram, including photos of the whole blended family altogether, Bruce and Heming embracing, Bruce with his three older daughters and more. The family even showed their support for the actor through their clothing choices — Tallulah wore a vintage Bruce Willis fan t-shirt on the day, while the man himself wore a cable-knit sweater embroidered with his initials, "BW."

Heming also shared two posts for her husband's birthday. The first was a video of her talking to her followers, in which she admitted to how difficult it is to cope with everything. She said, "I do have times of sadness every day, grief, every day, and I’m really feeling it today on his birthday.” She elaborated on this in the caption:

"Today is one of those days of feeling the grief and sadness. But the silver lining or the flip side is that I’m so lucky to feel your warmth and love that is directed to my husband and our family. I see your messages, your stories that you share, and all I can say is thank you. Your connection helps me and I hope it helps you in a small way to know that I see you and I deeply understand your journey as well💞"

Heming's second video was a compilation of sweet moments of Bruce and his family. She wrote in the caption:

"He is pure love. He is so loved. And I’ll be loving him always. Happy Birthday my sweet 💌" 

Meanwhile, Bruce's three older daughters, who he shares with Moore also posted to social media in honor of their father. Scout shared a photo of her and Bruce from when she was a young girl. She called him "one of my best friends, the Pisces king, the master of duality, both action hero icon and gentle girl dad." She continued:

"What a privilege to have this man as my father and learn so much about life, joy, mischief and art through him.

Today is not necessarily an easy day, because it’s a day full of so deep love, and our grief really does show us the depth of our loving for someone. So I’m trying to be with both today.

Grief is a price I’ll always pay to know what it is to feel such love. I’m sending my love to anyone who has ever felt their capacity stretched by the enormity of love and the humanness of grief. I love you."

Scout also shared the same video as Moore and wrote: "Also though, today has been PROFOUNDLY JOYFULLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL !!!!!! HAPPY BW’S BIRTHDAY TO ALL WHO CELEBRATE !!!!"

Tallulah shared a series of throwback photos of her movie star dad and wrote: "happy birthday to my numero uno Bruno !! feeling awash with all the good energies and love headed this Willis way! I love him and he loves me — what a delight!"

Meanwhile, Rumer, shared the same birthday video with the caption: "Happy Birthday Daddio I love you to the 🌙 You are so cool"

It's wonderful to see Bruce and his family in joyful spirits, and there's no denying how much love they all — and his many fans around the world — have for him.

What a delight to see Bruce Willis speaking again and enjoying his birthday with his loved ones! Are you a fan of the actor? Does it make you happy to see how much love and light there is around him during this difficult time? Pass this on to any fans of his you know so they can witness how loved he is.