Bruce Willis’s wife would like the media to stop spreading doom and gloom headlines that make it sound like her husband is already dead.
While many of us felt a significant amount of sadness when Bruce Willis was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia, his wife, Emma Heming Willis, is reminding people that despite everything, the star is very much alive. As reported by Deadline, Willis’s wife is especially “triggered” by recent clickbait headlines that suggest the actor no longer has any joy in his life, which she said isn’t true.
“I need society and whosoever is writing these stupid headlines to stop scaring people. Stop scaring people to think that once they get a diagnosis of some kind of neurocognitive disease that, ‘That’s it. It’s over. Let’s pack it up. Nothing else to see here, we’re done.’ No. It is the complete opposite of that, okay?”
Indeed, dementia, especially when diagnosed in a younger person, is something the media has never really done a good job explaining, leading to a significant amount of stigma for the sufferers and their families. Recently, a terrific movie called Memory starring Jessica Chastain and Peter Sarsgaard tried to de-stigmatize the condition. That film depicted a romance between a relatively young sufferer (played by Sarsgaard) and his caregiver (Chastain). Sadly, no one saw it despite Sarsgaard delivering an awards-calibre performance.
Indeed, Emma Willis is hoping the condition is treated with a bit more empathy going forward, writing, on Instagram “These headlines that paint this constant doom and gloom picture of dementia are harmful to them as they try to build their support unit around them. Or could sway a person who is wanting to help, the other way. I just ask you to consider reframing this negative narrative around dementia. That would be so kind and generous to the next care partner and their loved one.”
On behalf of all of us here at JoBlo, we continue to wish Bruce and his family well, and hopefully, the actor has many years of happiness ahead of him.