Emma Hemming broke down in tears as she discussed the challenges of moving her husband Bruce Willis into another home as he battles dementia.
“It’s a difficult decision. It’s impossible. It takes my breath away when I think about it,” Hemming said at the End Well 2025 conference in Los Angeles on Nov. 20, Us Weekly reported.
“These are impossible decisions. This is not how I envisioned our life,” she continued.
Mr Hemming, 47, said he had to make the “best and safest decision” for his family despite the backlash he received over the move.
“I knew that by speaking honestly and openly about this, I would be exposed to a lot of criticism,” she said.
Despite the criticism from outsiders, Hemming said her family has been fully supportive.
“They’re in it because they know, and I have this beautiful blended family,” she said. “I also have Bruce’s mother, who is in her 90s. Bruce’s brother, sister and cousins are very loving, supportive and open-minded.”
Hemming, who shares daughters Mabel, 13, and Evelyn, 11, with the Die Hard actor, revealed in August that Willis had moved into her home.
“I’m sure that’s what Bruce would want for our daughters,” she said at the time, appearing on “Emma and Bruce Willis: A Diane Sawyer Special,” adding that it was a “difficult” decision.
“He would want to live in a home that caters to their needs, not his own,” she says.
Hemming said the children often see their father and visit nearby homes for breakfast and dinner.
The mother of two admitted during a panel discussion last month that she had undergone therapy before publicly discussing the decision.
“It was interesting to see how much judgment and criticism there was about how terrible of a person I am and how I could do something like that,” she said. “But what I’m saying is, unless you’re on the front lines of this issue, you don’t have a voice and you don’t have a vote in that person’s home 24/7, 365 days a year.”
Hemming explained how getting Willis out of his parents’ home ultimately changed things for the better.
“People don’t realize all the needs that go unmet behind closed doors, but now our children’s needs are being met,” she said. “They’re at home where we can have playdates and sleepovers that we wouldn’t even think about.
“Their world is completely open, and so is my husband’s world.”
Ms Hemming admitted her husband’s illness was “troubling”.
“Caregiving is messy and you have to ride the wave,” she said.
Willis, who also shares daughters Rumer, 37, Scout, 34, and Talulah, 31, with ex-wife Demi Moore, was diagnosed with aphasia in 2022.
The following year, Willis’ family announced that his symptoms had progressed and he was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia, a neurological disease characterized by language impairment, behavioral changes, and movement disorders.
Hemming and Willis, 70, began dating in 2007 and married two years later.
