Bruce Willis’ Daughter Tallulah Shares Update On His Dementia Battle
Tallulah Willis provided an update on her father Bruce Willis’ health, sharing how the family navigates the “painful days” brought on by his frontotemporal dementia. During a conversation with Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb on TODAY on Sept. 18, Tallulah spoke about the actor’s experience with the neurodegenerative disease, which impacts the brain’s frontal and temporal lobes.
“He’s doing stable, which in this situation is good, and is hard,” she said. “There’s painful days, but there’s so much love.” Previously, Tallulah described her father’s condition as “a really aggressive cognitive disease, a form of dementia that’s very rare,” during a November 2023 episode of “The Drew Barrymore Show.”
In a May 2023 piece for Vogue, Tallulah expressed her feelings about witnessing her father’s struggles, lamenting what their relationship could have been as she grew older. “I’ve always recognized elements of his personality in me, and I just know that we’d be such good friends if only there were more time,” she wrote in Vogue.
Her father’s battle has also taught Tallulah, the youngest child of Bruce Willis and Demi Moore, to cherish the moments they still share. “It’s really shown me to not take any moment for granted, and I really do think that we’d be best friends,” she said on TODAY. “I think he’s very proud of me. You have to be in the moment. You have to be present.”
Tallulah has also been candid about her own health. In March, she was praised for sharing that she had been diagnosed with autism at the age of 29. She posted a childhood video on Instagram, showing her at an event with her father.
In the clip, Bruce Willis holds Tallulah as he answers questions on the red carpet, while she keeps herself occupied by rubbing his shaved head and playing with his ears. “Tell me you’re autistic without telling me you’re autistic,” she captioned the post, adding a crying-laughing emoji.
When asked in the comments if she had been diagnosed with ASD, or autism spectrum disorder, as a child, she replied, “Actually this is the first time I’ve ever publicly shared my diagnosis. Found out this summer and it’s changed my life.”
Autism spectrum disorder is described by the National Institute of Mental Health as “a neurological and developmental disorder that affects how people interact with others, communicate, learn, and behave.” The term “spectrum” reflects the wide range of symptoms and severity people may experience.
