Bruce Willis’ wife Emma Heming Willis begs paparazzi to stop ‘yelling at my husband’ after dementia diagnosis

Article content

After Bruce Willis was photographed in public for the first time since his family revealed he is suffering from frontotemporal dementia, the actor’s wife Emma Heming Willis is begging paparazzi to stop yelling at him in public.

Article content

“I’m just seeing headlines, and there’s a video of my husband out getting some coffee with some friends that did a stand-up job with protecting him,” she said in a video posted to her Instagram. “It’s clear that there’s still a lot of education that needs to be put forth. So this one is going out to the photographers and video people that are trying to get those exclusives of my husband out and about. Just keep your space.”

Article content

She continued by addressing the video that appeared on the Daily Mail’s website, in which Willis had to be redirected by a friend, by pleading with paparazzi to stop hollering at her husband. “I know this is your job, but maybe just keep your space,” she said.

“Please don’t be yelling at my husband, asking how he’s doing, whatever. The woo-hooing and the yippee-ki-yay’s — just don’t do it, OK? Give him the space. Allow for our family or whoever’s with him that day to be able to get him from Point A to Point B safely. That’s my PSA.”

Article content

Article content

In the comments section of her post, Emma asked followers to share their “advice on how to get your loved ones out in the world safely.”

On Friday, the Daily Mail published photos of the Die Hard star on a recent afternoon with two pals in Santa Monica, Calif.

While out with his friends, Willis, 67, was seen wearing a grey toque, blue sweatshirt and black pants. In a video published to the Daily Mail’s website, the actor could be seen walking in one direction as one of his friends tried to get him to stop and go the other way.

Article content

After going public with his “cruel” dementia diagnosis last month, Bruce’s family — wife Emma Heming Willis, 44; his former partner Demi Moore, 60; and his children Rumer, 34; Scout, 31; Tallulah, 29; Mabel, 10; and Evelyn, 8 — are spending as much time with him as they can.

“The focus for Bruce is to keep him active. He has a busy schedule with activities every day. They make sure both his body and brain is exercised,” a family source told PEOPLE.

“The family is all closer than ever,” the source adds, saying that Emma wants to make sure their children, Mabel and Evelyn, have a good memory of him.

“She wants them to remember Bruce as an amazing, fun dad. She wants them to have the best memories of him.”

This month marks the one-year anniversary of Willis’ family announcing he was stepping away from acting after he was diagnosed with aphasia, a neurological disease that leaves a person unable to communicate.

Article content

His condition has worsened and in February his family confirmed that the Hollywood icon is suffering from frontotemporal dementia.

“FTD is a cruel disease that many of us have never heard of and can strike anyone,” Willis’ loved ones wrote in a statement on the Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration website. “For people under 60, FTD is the most common form of dementia, and because getting the diagnosis can take years, FTD is likely much more prevalent than we know.”

Last week, Emma took to her Instagram Stories to share a throwback video of her husband showing his support for her body care line CocoBaba.

The old clip showed Bruce saying he was “crazy” about her products.

“What’s this new Memory thingy on IG!?” she wrote alongside the post. “OMG my biggest fan. I’m in love with him.”

Article content

Meanwhile, his former wife, Demi, is happy that Bruce has such a strong support system around him.

“Demi and the kids … rally round Bruce, whom she still adores, and it really touches her soul how loving and selfless their kids have been toward their dad as he copes with his situation the best he possibly can,” a source tells Us Weekly.

To further help her husband, Emma has been getting tips from dementia specialist Teepa Snow.

“She’s a loving, compassionate and skilled leader in this space who navigates herself with pure empathy. She’s a gift,” Emma wrote in a recent Instagram post.

Article content

Willis, whose career started in the early 1980s with a role in Sidney Lumet’s The Verdict, is most famous for playing New York City cop John McClane in the successful Die Hard franchise. He also starred in television’s Moonlighting, opposite Cybill Shepherd, Pulp Fiction, The Sixth Sense, Looper, which opened the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival, and played David Dunn in M. Night Shyamalan’s Unbreakable trilogy.

He’s been nominated for five Golden Globes (winning once for Moonlighting) and won two Emmys (for Moonlighting and a guest appearance on Friends).

In recent years, Willis appeared mainly in straight-to-VOD fare.

Willis’ final film, Assassin will premiere later this month in select theatres and on VOD.

[email protected]