EXCLUSIVE: Bruce Willis, 70, Left Family 'Hopeless' After Dementia Diagnosis as Wife Emma Heming Was 'Angered' Over Actor's Failing Health
Bruce Willis' dementia diagnosis was hard for his family to come to terms with.
Nov. 14 2025, Published 3:31 p.m. ET
Bruce Willis' wife has confessed that she felt "anger and resentment" after the legendary actor was diagnosed with dementia, RadarOnline.com can report.
Emma Heming revealed she has since "gotten used to the grief" and is now better able to process her emotions.
An Initial Lack of Answers
His wife, Emma Heming, admitted to feeling angry.
Willis, 70, retired from acting amid his battle with aphasia back in 2022, and was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia a year later.
In an emotional conversation with grief expert and author David Kessler, Heming recalled how lost she felt learning the news in their doctor's office.
"When we received that diagnosis, you know, we walked out of there with nothing. With no hope, no support, no road map," she explained. "It was just 'check back in in a couple months', and we were sent on our way."
The 47-year-old model continued: "And I thought, 'How could this be? How are people being diagnosed and pushed out the door with no support?"
Her questions inspired her to share her experiences with other caregivers in her book, The Unexpected Journey: Finding Strength, Hope, and Yourself on the Caregiving Path.
Heavy Emotional Toll
She has since embraced her role as his caretaker.
In her memoir, Heming discussed the heavy emotional tolls the diagnosis took on her.
"The most jarring ones for me were the anger and the resentment that I started to feel," she opened up. "I had so much shame, and just felt like a horrible person because I was having these feelings."
Heming said she would soon discover that her feelings were not unique and, in fact, were shared by many partners who suddenly find themselves thrust into the role of caregiver.
Emma's Marriage Doubts
Willis has been steadily getting sicker.
Still she has previously admitted her husband's sudden change and unexplained lack of emotion nearly crumbled their marriage, until the family found out the reason why.
"I didn't understand what was happening," she told ABC's Diane Sawyer earlier this year. "And I just thought, 'How can I remain in a marriage that doesn't feel like what we had? It doesn't feel like a marriage anymore.'
"It felt a little removed, very cold, not like the Bruce who is very warm and affectionate. To go in the complete opposite of that was alarming and scary."
The Highs and Lows of His Battle
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His family has all offered their help and support during his battle.
Since Willis' family shared the devastating health update, Heming has been open about the highs and lows that have come with caring for her ailing husband full-time.
During a recent appearance on Tamsen Fadal's The Tamsen Show podcast, she explained the heartbreaking process of watching Willis' disease take over.
She said: "We've been with Bruce every step of the way of his disease and his disease progresses and he declines. So, it's not like this fast track into like, oh my gosh, he's not communicating."
Heming continued: "We're not able to have a conversation anymore. It's just been a slow burn. Um, and that's very painful to watch as well.
"We communicate with him in our own special way that works for him, that works for us. It looks different from, you know, what the norm would be, but we're not dealing with anything that is normal."
