Why Emma Heming Willis Decided to Move Bruce to 2nd Home With Care Team

Emma Heming Willis is opening up about her husband Bruce Willis’ frontotemporal dementia battle and the reason behind his move to a second home.

“This disease takes a team, and I think that so many people are doing this on their own,” Heming Willis, 47, said during a podcast interview on Tuesday, September 2, of hiring a care team to help support her husband. “This takes a team.”

When asked specifically about Willis, 70, no longer living with the rest of the family, she continued, “Sometimes it means that you have to look at your house. You have to look at is it safe for someone to be living in this house? Is it safe for me, and is it safe for our children? It is a very personal decision, but it comes down to safety. It comes down to making the right decision for you and your family and your person.”

Heming Willis first opened up about her husband’s living arrangement in ABC’s Emma and Bruce Willis: The Unexpected Journey with Diane Sawyer on August 26.

“It was one of the hardest decisions that I’ve had to make so far,” Heming Willis said about moving her husband into a separate home. “But I knew, first and foremost, Bruce would want that for our daughters. You know, he would want them to be in a home that was more tailored to their needs, not his needs.”

The author shares daughters Mabel, 13, and Evelyn, 11, with Willis. The actor lives in the second home with a full-time care team and gets regular visits from Heming Willis, his kids and his friends.

Sawyer, 79, revealed she visited Willis at the home and reminisced about their bond through the years.

“Since friends can come by, Emma gave me a gift. I went to see Bruce without cameras just to honor all of those memories over all those years,” Sawyer said. “As we walked up, he seemed happy and, as Emma said, walking, healthy. We sat on a sofa outside, and at one point, without words, he took my hand. I talked about the old days and saw flashes of that irrepressible smile.”

After the special aired on ABC, Heming Willis addressed those who have criticized her decision to move Willis into his own home.

“I think [the special] did a beautiful job at amplifying FTD awareness,” she said in a video posted via Instagram on August 29. “What I knew is that by sharing some of our intimate information that we would see the two camps, right. It would be people with an opinion vs. people with an actual experience.”

Additionally, Heming Willis wrote a caption alongside the video, showing support for other caregivers and families affected by dementia.

“Too often, caregivers are judged quickly and unfairly by those who haven’t lived this journey or stood on the front lines of it,” she wrote. “Sharing openly may invite opinions, but more importantly, it creates connection and validation for those actually navigating the realities of caregiving every day. That’s who I share for and so I can build a deeper connection with a community that understands this journey 💙.”