On Wednesday, Bruce Willis’ ex-wife Demi Moore announced on Instagram that her ex had recently been diagnosed with aphasia — a disorder that affects the brain’s language center, and a person’s ability to understand or express speech. With this sad announcement, she also said that the busy action movie hero, only 67, would be ‘stepping away from acting.’
“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,” Moore’s post reads. “As a result of this and with much consideration Bruce is stepping away from the career that has meant so much to him.”
“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,” it continued. “As Bruce always says, ‘Live it up,’ and together we plan to do just that.”
The post is signed “Emma, Demi, Rumer, Scout, Tallulah, Mabel & Evelyn” — referring to Emma Heming Willis, Willis’s wife; and his children. Moore is the mother of Rumer, Scout and Tallulah; and Heming Willis is mother to Mabel and Evelyn.
Many people who have the disease eventually completely lose the ability to use language to communicate.