On Thursday, Bruce Willis’ family announced the 67-year-old actor known for Die Hard is going to step away and retire from acting due to a brain condition called Aphasia.
“To Bruce’s amazing supporters, as a family, we wanted to share that our beloved Bruce has been experiencing some health issues and has recently been diagnosed with aphasia, which is impacting his cognitive abilities,” posted the Instagram accounts of Demi Moore, Willis’ former wife; current wife, Emma Heming, and daughter, Rumer Willis. “As a result of this and with much consideration, Bruce is stepping away from the career that has meant so much to him.”
Below you can read the full statement.
It’s also learned the reason that Bruce Willis was involved in so many movies in the past few years – often low-budget flicks that he came under fire for – is that he knew of the condition and wanted to film as many movies as he could to support his family.
As a result, the Razzie Awards have backtracked and rescinded their “Worst Performance by Bruce Willis in 2021” award.
“The Razzies are truly sorry for #BruceWillis diagnosed condition,” tweeted the official account. “Perhaps this explains why he wanted to go out with a bang in 2021. Our best wishes to Bruce and family.”
Bruce Willis is also known for Pulp Fiction and Armageddon and his latest movie was just released on March 4 with A Day To Die which also stars Kevin Dillon and Frank Grillo; according to IMDB, Willis also completed eight additional movies including Vendetta, Fortress: Sniper’s Eye, The Wrong Place, Die Like Lovers, Corrective Measures, Wire Room, White Elephant, and Paradise City.
According to the Mayo Clinic, Aphasia is “a condition that affects your ability to communicate. It can affect your speech, as well as the way you write and understand both spoken and written language,” and that it “typically occurs suddenly after a stroke or a head injury. But it can also come on gradually from a slow-growing brain tumor or a disease that causes progressive, permanent damage (degenerative). The severity of aphasia depends on a number of conditions, including the cause and the extent of the brain damage.” Treatment includes “speech and language therapy” and “the person with aphasia relearns and practices language skills and learns to use other ways to communicate. Family members often participate in the process, helping the person communicate.”
Statement from the family of Bruce Willis:
To Bruce’s amazing supporters, as a family we wanted to share that our beloved Bruce has been experiencing some health issues and has recently been diagnosed with aphasia, which is impacting his cognitive abilities. As a result of this and with much consideration Bruce is stepping away from the career that has meant so much to him.
This is a really challenging time for our family and we are so appreciative of your continued love, compassion and support. We are moving through this as a strong family unit, and wanted to bring his fans in because we know how much he means to you, as you do to him.
As Bruce always says, “Live it up” and together we plan to do just that.
Love,
Emma, Demi, Rumer, Scout, Tallulah, Mabel, & Evelyn
