For almost a year it has been known to the public that Bruce Willis is seriously ill. In March 2022, the actor first published his aphasia diagnosis via his daughter. A few weeks ago, it became clearer where the symptoms of the disease probably come from: Willis was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia.
For a very special group of people, however, Bruce Willis has become more and more interesting since the diagnosis and the end of his career: since then, paparazzi have been on the hunt for photos that show Willis’ current condition. Apparently, they are quite rough – so much so that even Bruce Willis’ wife, Emma Heming Willis, now comments on it and asks the photographers to keep their distance.
In a message on Instagram, she urged the intrusive paparazzi to “keep your distance” and stop “yelling at” Bruce Willis. In the video, Emma Willis also talks about her experiences with dementia and adds that “a lot of educational work still needs to be done” about people living with dementia.
The video appears to have prompted a recent incident in which photographers tried to speak to the ailing actor. At the time, Willis was out in public because he wanted to meet up with friends for coffee in Santa Monica. This trip alone must have been an effort for Willis, as Emma Willis now describes: It is “difficult and stressful to get someone out into the world and navigate them safely”.
Now she has a simple message for photographers: “This clip goes to the photographers and videographers who are trying to get exclusive shots of my husband: just keep your distance,” she said in the clip. “I know this is your job, but maybe you should just hold off.”
