Tragic Details About Demi Moore And Bruce Willis' Daughter Rumer

Rumer Willis is perhaps best known for being the eldest daughter of famous actors Bruce Willis and Demi Moore. Rumer, herself, made her own acting debut at the ripe old age of seven, starring alongside her mother in "Now and Then," the iconic girlhood film. "I remember being on that set, it was like heaven for me. All I wanted to do was talk to the older girls and just, you know, feel like I was in it," Rumer recalled to HuffPost in 2019. 

Sadly, Rumer's life hasn't been all red carpets and nepo baby probs. "It's really difficult to have any sort of happiness in your life if you base the value that you hold for yourself on other people's opinions," she confessed to Civilian magazine about all of the pressure that comes with growing up in the spotlight. In fact, there's a lot people don't know about Bruce and Demi's famous daughter, and some of it is downright tragic.

Even at a young age, Rumer Willis was all too familiar with the intense scrutiny that comes with being famous — especially as it related to her physical appearance. During a candid interview with HuffPost, Willis opened up about how she was often publicly bullied by Perez Hilton and many other celebrity and entertainment bloggers. "I had a potato head. My face, they said I had a huge jaw. They said, like, it was a butter face, which is like everything is good but her face," she rattled off about the abhorrent insults. "And when you're 14, 15, like, I didn't really understand having value in myself," she confessed.

Willis went on to compete in and win "Dancing with the Stars" in 2015, but the bullying did not subside. Not even close! Eventually all of the harassment prompted her to write an open letter for Glamour. "Just because I was celebrated on 'Dancing with the Stars' doesn't mean the bullying has stopped," she revealed. According to Willis, during her time competing on the show, she had to block at least ten people a day on her social media accounts for sending her nasty messages. 

Sadly, it appears that all of the bullying did take a toll on Rumer Willis' mental health. In February 2021, Willis took to her Instagram Story to discuss her struggles with anxiety. "I get nauseous and my heart won't slow down," she penned along with a video of herself (via Yahoo!Life). "It sometimes feels like a force so much bigger than me has taken over the control panel in my [brain]."

Fortunately, Willis has figured out a way to combat those intense feelings. "I decided to take charge of my day. Put on my new fav dress (@shopdoen) put on some great music and dance it out," she posted merely one day after the bout of anxiety. She also made sure to thank her followers for all of the love and support. Is there anything a good song and a cute outfit can't fix?!

Rumer Willis has also been very open and forthcoming about her unhealthy relationship with alcohol and subsequent struggle with sobriety. "I wanted to share this because I am really proud of myself. Yesterday I celebrated 6 Months of Sobriety," she revealed on Instagram in July 2017 (via People). "It's not something I planned on but after the long journey of getting here I can honestly say I have never been more proud of myself in my entire life."

Months later, however, she explained to People that the decision to be sober wasn't one she made out of necessity but rather because she wanted to participate in "sober January." It wasn't until she finished the month that she realized how much better off she was by abstaining from alcohol. Unfortunately, however, many in the media took her social media revelation and ran with it, accusing the young celebrity of hiding a severe addiction. "I was like, 'I've kept it hidden because there's nothing [to hide.]'"

According to Willis, her relationship with alcohol didn't actually become unhealthy until after she witnessed her mother, Demi Moore, relapse. "When I stopped talking to my mom, then it kind of kicked up into high gear," she confessed during an appearance on "Red Table Talk." She added, "I literally started getting anxiety attacks about how bad I was gonna feel the next day. So I would be drunk and start hyperventilating and freak out. My friend even called 9-1-1 once." Thankfully, Willis is now seven years sober and counting!

Unfortunately, Rumer Willis' relationship with her superstar mother, Demi Moore, hasn't been without trouble either. Rumer has also been very candid and honest about how Demi's addiction struggles had a major impact on her. "I had so much of this undealt with anger that I hadn't felt out because I didn't understand what's going on," she confessed during an episode of "Red Table Talk." Tragically, it was Rumer who was with her mother in 2012, the night Demi relapsed and was rushed to the hospital after having a seizure brought on from using nitrous and synthetic cannabis. "I took her to rehab on the plane, which was the scariest thing I ever had to do in my life," Rumer recalled.

Sadly, following Demi's relapse, she and her mother remained estranged from each other for many years. "We grow up thinking that our parents are these immovable gods of Olympus," Rumer told the New York Times in 2019. "Obviously, as we grow older, we start to realize how much our parents are just people."

These days, however, Rumer and Demi are closer than close! In May, Rumer took to Instagram to wish Demi a happy Mother's Day. "Man I love you mama @demimoore I know I'm a day late but you're worth the wait," she posted on her Instagram Stories (via People). 

In March 2022, Rumer Willis along with the rest of the Willis/Moore blended family revealed in a somber statement that their patriarch, Bruce Willis, had been diagnosed with aphasia, a brain disorder that was "impacting his cognitive abilities." They explained that as a result of the diagnosis, Bruce would be "stepping away" from his acting career. "This is a really challenging time for our family and we are so appreciative of your continued love, compassion and support," the statement continued.

Then, in February 2023, the Willis family provided an update regarding Bruce's condition. "Since we announced Bruce's diagnosis of aphasia in spring 2022, Bruce's condition has progressed and we now have a more specific diagnosis: frontotemporal dementia (known as FTD)," Rumer revealed in an Instagram post. "Unfortunately, challenges with communication are just one symptom of the disease Bruce faces," she added.

In May 2024, Rumer provided another update during an appearance on the "Today" show. When asked how he was doing, Rumer gushed, "He's so good." Rumer also noted that he was relishing his role as that of grandfather to her baby girl, Louetta Isley Thomas Willis, born in April 2023. "I actually got to see him right before I came out and Lou was just starting to walk a little bit. And she was walking over to him and it was so sweet," she recalled.