Hollywood icon Bruce Willis was initially diagnosed with aphasia in 2022 before his condition ‘progressed’ and doctors learned he has frontotemporal dementia
Bruce Willis’ wife shares devastating update on Hollywood star’s health
Bruce Willis’ wife, Emma Heming Willis, revealed a devastating update about the Die Hard actor’s health following his dementia diagnosis. Bruce, now 70, was initially diagnosed with aphasia in 2022, with his family explaining that his cognitive abilities were affected by the condition, which can involve difficulty with communication.
It was then shared the following year that his condition had “progressed”. They said that, since initial diagnosis, he had received a “more specific” one of frontotemporal dementia (FTD). His family, including ex-wife Demi Moore and their children, have been sharing regular updates on his condition.
In Emma’s new book, The Unexpected Journey, she details the progression of his diagnosis while also detailing how their lives have changed.
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Emma revealed he isn’t able to communicate with her(Image: ABC/YouTube)
Early on in the book, Emma revealed Bruce isn’t able to communicate with her. She said: “All caregiving journeys can feel lonely and isolating, but the dementia caregiver’s path often feels even more so.
“The absence of shared decision making or meaningful conversations with your loved one amplifies that sense of isolation. Because Bruce can’t communicate with me (due to the variant forms of FTD he has, primary progressive aphasia) I must make judgement calls for him about absolutely everything.
“I can’t ask him how he’s feeling, what’s wrong, or if something hurts. Instead, I read his body language or look into his eyes to understand what’s bothering him and what he’s experiencing. I compare this to that instinct that you have as a parent.”
She added she has a hard time responding to people asking how he’s doing(Image: Getty Images)
Emma admitted she has a ‘hard time’ responding to people asking how he’s been doing as her ‘unhinged response’ would be to tell them: “Well, he has FTD. How do you think he’s doing?!”
She said: “Yes, I know when people ask that, it is coming from a place of concern and love. And of course, it’s better they ask than skirt by it; I just have a hard time responding without spiralling.”
Bruce’s daughter with Demi, Tallulah Willis, once said his family thought his “unresponsiveness” was due to his hearing issues prior to his dementia diagnosis.
Speaking about the symptoms, she told Vogue in 2023: “It started out with a kind of vague unresponsiveness, which the family chalked up to Hollywood hearing loss: ‘Speak up! Die Hard messed with Dad’s ears.’ Later that unresponsiveness broadened [though].”
In the recent interview with Fox News Digital, Emma also spoke about other signs that she noticed. She said that Bruce had a “severe stutter” as a child but later learned to “manage” it.
She however said that one of the “first signs” before his diagnosis was that his stutter was “coming back”.
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To get an idea of how long ago Scotland last beat England, read a Scotland on Sunday column that appeared the same year.
“It hardly seems sensible for girls to want to take part in this particularly brutal contact sport,” wrote celebrated journalist Jack McLean.
“Why girls of teenage years wish to eschew such adolescent delights as make-up, nice clothes, elaborate hair-dos and mooning about after boys of a Saturday afternoon in favour of brawling in the glaur of a wet Scottish playing field in the winter is beyond me.”
And he was one of women’s rugby’s more supportive observers at the time.
Not quite the Stone Age, but we are now more than a quarter of a century distant from Scotland’s last success over their neighbours.
Scotland edged to an 8-5 victory in the 1998 Home Nations – a precursor to the Women’s Six Nations – and then took a 15-13 win in a third-place play-off at the European Championship in Italy a year later.
Donna Kennedy, Scotland’s most capped player, played in both.
“We were a very good, strong side at that time,” she told BBC Sport.
“But we were still always the underdogs, because England have always been good at what they do. Even back then they were the team to beat.
“That game in 1999 – up a mountain in Italy – was really tight.
“It was very much an up-front battle in the forwards. I can remember it being quite a feisty game.
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Scotland have not been able to lay so much as a glove on England since however.
Instead it has been one-way traffic, with the Red Roses juggernaut steaming through Scotland again and again.
England have played Scotland 34 times in total, and, apart from those two defeats from another millennia, have won every time.
In the past five meetings, the average points difference between the teams has stretched to nearly 50.
The Auld Enemy has become old news; a rivalry devoid of jeopardy, a bitter punchline delivered on repeat for the Scots.
Kennedy believes the current gap between the teams is due to three things; structure, investment and raw numbers.
“There are a lot more players in England, firstly,” she says.
“Secondly, it is the pathways for players to become internationals. England set them up early on. They were ahead of every nation in that, not just Scotland.
“England were a lot quicker off the mark with investing in both sevens and XVs, which then feeds into domestic rugby. You don’t just become an international player, you have to come though those clubs.”
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Scotland have steadily improved in recent years, but their World Cup build-up was knocked by the announcement that long-time head coach Bryan Easson would depart at the end of the campaign and uncertainty over contract renewals.
A side that has risen from 12th in the world rankings in 2019 to sixth now, that sparkled in the pool stages, seeing off Wales and Fiji and scaring Canada, doesn’t deserve such an unsettled situation.
“We have made such a good leap forward in last five to six years, why would we let go of that now?” added Kennedy.
“The team are going out there and showing what they can do. Let’s make sure we have everything behind them to help them continue.
“You have to back up a team that is competing on the world stage.
“There is the platform now and we have to use our voices.
“I know there have been conversations with Scottish Rugby and I believe headway has been made. They have to get those contracts right, not just for the players that are there now, but also for the talent coming though.
“This can’t be a one-hit wonder. There must be continuity, investment and commitment. It has to be talked about all the time. And if it is not, I will probably be one of the first people to shout about it.”
Kennedy will be at Ashton Gate on Sunday, shouting for Scotland on the pitch as they attempt to shock the hosts and the world.
“There will be belief in that team, there is no doubt about it,” said Kennedy.
The outfit in which Kennedy celebrated victories over England in her own playing days will sadly not feature however.
“Back in 1998, we had this outfit with tartan trews, a pinky lilac shirt, and these tartan waistcoats, which we were so proud of,” Kennedy remembers.
“After the game we all rushed to get into that. We got back to the clubhouse, stood there in our pride and joy and sang the national anthem. And England actually joined in!
“That is the beauty of the game, the joy of rugby. They recognised we had played better than them that day. That was the sportsmanship, celebrating the game together.
“Those trousers are still somewhere, but I certainly couldn’t fit in them now.”
Acclaimed actor Daniel Day-Lewis is back on the big screen in a family project this month – and has now addressed his previous comments where he announced his retirement from acting
Daniel Day Lewis has given a rare interview about his career and ‘retirement’ from acting(Image: Getty Images for National Board of Review)
Daniel Day-Lewis never intended to retire from acting and described the former comments he made about stepping away from performing as “grandiose gibberish”.
The Oscar winner, 68, is considered to be one of the greatest talents of his generation with movies including My Left Foot, Gangs Of New York, and There Will Be Blood. Speaking to Rolling Stone magazine, Day-Lewis said: “I would have done well to just keep my mouth shut, for sure.
“It just seems like such grandiose gibberish to talk about. I never intended to retire, really. I just stopped doing that particular type of work so I could do some other work. Apparently, I’ve been accused of retiring twice now. I never meant to retire from anything! I just wanted to work on something else for a while.”
The Oscar winner announced after the release of Phantom Thread in 2017 that he would be stepping away from the profession.
Daniel Day-Lewis in Lincoln(Image: Publicity Picture)
A spokesperson for the star at the time said: “Daniel Day-Lewis will no longer be working as an actor. He is immensely grateful to all of his collaborators and audiences over the many years.”
But explaining further in the new interview, he added: “The work was always something I loved. I never, ever stopped loving the work. But there were aspects of the way of life that went with it that I’d never come to terms with — from the day I started out to today. There’s something about that process that left me feeling hollowed out at the end of it.
“I was well acquainted with it. I understood that it was all part of the process, and that there would be a regeneration eventually. And it was only really in the last experience [making Phantom Thread ] that I began to feel quite strongly that maybe there wouldn’t be that regeneration anymore. That I just probably should just keep away from it, because I didn’t have anything else to offer.”
Day-Lewis was talking to Rolling Stone to promote Anemone, the debut film from his son, Ronan Day-Lewis.
The movie is billed as an exploration of the complex and profound ties that exist between brothers, fathers, and sons.
The plot has been kept under wraps, and wasn’t made entirely clear by its first trailer, which introduces Daniel Day-Lewis as Ray Stoker, a man wrestling with his past out in a rainy and isolated, wooded location.
Anemone is Day-Lewis’s first film since 2017’s Phantom Thread.
“Ro made it pretty clear that he wasn’t going to do it if I didn’t do it. But we had a very happy time writing this story together, and I think it was really in the spirit of wanting to just keep that ball in the air that we thought, We’ll keep moving forward with this, whatever that means,” he said.
Ronan Day-Lewis directed from a script he wrote with Daniel Day-Lewis, with Brad Pitt’s Plan B producing. Samuel Bottomley, Safia Oakley-Green, and Samantha Morton co-star.
* Anemone will have its world premiere at the New York Film Festival before being released in the US on October 3, and in the UK on November 7.
In this Thursday’s Mirror Daily Digest, we’ve pulled together the biggest stories of the day from Lord Mandelson’s dramatic sacking over Epstein to NTAs insider gossip and the latest on Charlie Kirk’s shooting
President Donald Trump with Britain’s former ambassador to the United States Peter Mandelson(Image: AP)
Welcome to the Mirror’s Daily Digest, where we pull together all the best stories of the day from our News, Showbiz, Sport teams and more. This Thursday, we’re featuring everything from Keir Starmer’s sacking of Peter Mandelson over his links to disgraced paedophile Jeffery Epstein to our reporter’s experience of the NTAs afterparty and the FBI closing in on Charlie Kirk’s shooter.
Peter Mandelson was dramatically sacked this morning after pressure was piled on the US Ambassador over his relationship with paedophile financier Jeffery Epstein. Elsewhere, our reporter has written of his shock at the NTAs afterparty and the FBI claim to have retrieved the weapon thought to have killed Charlie Kirk.
Peter Mandelson sacked as US Ambassador after new Jeffrey Epstein emails uncovered
Lord Peter Mandelson has been ousted over his links to Jeffrey Epstein(Image: AFP via Getty Images)
After Keir Starmer found himself under fire during yesterday’s PMQs over Peter Mandelson’s relationship with Jeffery Epstein, this morning, our Politics team broke the news that the US Ambassador had been sacked. The PM asked for him to be removed from the position after it emerged he coached Epstein through “years of torture” over underage sex charges.
The British Embassy in Washington said the emails show the depth and extent of Lord Mandelson’s relationship with Epstein is “materially different from that known at the time of his appointment”. Mr Starmer now faces questions about how much he knew and when he learned about the contents of the emails.
He held an emergency meeting with Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper this morning, at which Lord Mandelson’s fate was sealed. That came just 24 hours after he defended the Ambassador at PMQs as the crisis deepened. His sacking comes just days before US President Donald Trump comes to the UK on a state visit.
Read the full story here.
‘I was at the National Television Awards afterparty – I expected drama but was shocked’
I found myself at the National Television Awards afterparty alongside Barney Walsh, Michael Stevenson and Kirsty Mitchell from Casualty(Image: Mirror/ Daniel Bird)
The biggest night in the TV calendar – the National Television Awards – took place last night, with Assistant Celebrity and Entertainment Editor Daniel Bird being granted access to the afterparty. However, Daniel was left shocked after the party wasn’t quite what he expected.
He wrote: “It’s one of the most exclusive parties in the business, but I managed to get into the National Television Awards afterparty. Shortly after the ceremony came to an end, I found myself walking backstage at the O2 Arena, going past dressing rooms and memorabilia signed by artists including One Direction and Celine Dion as I made my way to the afterparty.
“I was able to rub shoulders with some of my favourite TV stars, mainly EastEnders and Casualty, but I also bumped into all sorts of “famous” people and the odd social media “influencer.” I was instantly greeted by a free bar, albeit prosecco, wine and lager – not the typical afterparty I am used to.”
Read the full story here.
Circle closing around Charlie Kirk shooting suspect as FBI find weapon
The right-wing activist had been addressing attendees at an event at Utah Valley University when tragedy struck(Image: AP)
Charlie Kirk’s shooting shocked the world yesterday evening as Donald Trump broke the news that the conservative activist had been killed in the attack. Throughout this Thursday, our News team have attempted to stay across the latest news from across the pond.
The FBI has released an image of a person of interest wanted in connection with the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk. The manhunt is continuing after the 31-year-old ally to the US president was hit in the neck by a bullet while he was talking at Utah Valley University. In a video message, Trump said: “I am filled with grief and anger at the heinous assassination of Charlie Kirk.”
The Utah Department of Public Safety confirmed no one is currently in custody in the investigation into Kirk’s killing, with the shooter believed to have been in a nearby building.
Read the full story here.
Charles ‘told Diana he was returning to Camilla as she lay in hospital after Harry’s birth’
Princess Diana’s close friend makes revealing claim about the night Harry was born (Image: Getty Images)
Our royal team have revealed that King Charles III allegedly left Princess Diana in tears in her hospital bed just hours after she gave birth to Prince Harry. The then Prince of Wales was apparently visiting his newborn son for the first time, when he turned to Diana and said the words which she later claimed were the death knell for their marriage.
She later relayed the story to her one-time ‘rock’ and butler Paul Burrell, who has gone public with it today, as the world speculates about the future for Prince Harry and King Charles’s relationship following their 55-minute reunion meeting.
“[Diana told me] Charles came into the hospital, looked in the cot and said ‘Oh, red hair’,” recalls Paul, in his new book The Royal Insider, out now. “Diana replied, ‘But, Charles, you know that’s the Spencer gene. We’ve all got red hair’.” Paul adds: “Then [according to Diana] came the damning blow. He said, ‘Well at least I’ve got my heir and spare now and…. I can return to Camilla’.”
Read the full story here.
Horror moment neighbour throws boiling water over gran and boy, 4, on school run
(Image: Donna Varley / SWNS)
Disturbing video footage shows the moment a neighbour hurled a kettle full of boiling water onto a disabled grandma’s face, leaving her seriously injured. Susan Varley, 68, was walking her four-year-old grandson to school when her next door neighbour, Ina Priestly, 56, approached her and poured the steaming hot water over her face.
In horrific CCTV footage of the attack, Susan was seen falling to the ground and screaming in pain as Priestly simply walked away. The gran suffered serious burns to her scalp, forehead, left cheek and ear, and the back of her neck – with her eyesight saved thanks to the glasses she was wearing. Her grandson avoided the scorching water only because he had his coat hood up.
Ina pleaded guilty to one count of causing grievous bodily harm with intent at Leeds Crown Court and was given a two-year community order. She is also required to comply with up to 25 rehabilitation activities. Susan, from Morley, Leeds, is still too ill to speak, but her daughter Donna, 35, said: “My mum is now a shell of the person she once was.
Read the full story here.
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