Bruce Willis' daughter Tallulah has candidly laid bare gut-wrenching new details about the actor's ongoing battle with the degenerative brain condition aphasia - revealing in searing detail how she knew 'a long time ago' that something was wrong with her father, but that she assumed he had simply 'lost interest in her' after the birth of his children with his second wife.
In a personal essay penned for Vogue, Tallulah, 29, recalled witnessing her father's steady mental decline, admitting that she and her family initially blamed the 68-year-old's 'unresponsiveness' on his 'Hollywood hearing loss'.
However, as it grew more severe, she admits that she began to 'take it personally', writing: 'Later that unresponsiveness broadened, and I sometimes took it personally. He had had two babies with my stepmother, Emma Heming Willis, and I thought he'd lost interest in me.
'Though this couldn't have been further from the truth, my adolescent brain tortured itself with some faulty math: I'm not beautiful enough for my mother, I'm not interesting enough for my father.'
Bruce's devastating diagnosis was revealed to the world in early 2022, with his family - including his ex-wife Demi Moore, their children, and his current wife Emma - issuing a joint statement on behalf of the actor, while sharing details about his condition.
In an Instagram post shared across their accounts, the women wrote that the Hollywood icon 'had been experiencing some health issues and had recently been diagnosed with aphasia, which is impacting his cognitive abilities'.
'As a result of this and with much consideration Bruce is stepping away from the career that has meant so much to him,' the statement continued. 'This is a really challenging time for our family and we are so appreciative of your continued love, compassion and support.'
However, while the news of Bruce's condition was not shared publicly until March 2022, Tallulah says that he had been 'quietly struggling' with his health for some time before that - during which time she was herself battling anorexia, a condition that she admits left her in a state of 'avoidance and denial' about her father's own issues.
'While I was wrapped up in my body dysmorphia, flaunting it on Instagram, my dad was quietly struggling,' she recalled. 'All kinds of cognitive testing was being conducted, but we didn't have an acronym yet.'
However, in the summer of 2021, Tallulah says she had a painful awakening to the true severity of Bruce's condition while attending a wedding on Martha's Vineyard - admitting that she broke down in tears during the father of the bride's speech because she realized that she would likely never get to share that same moment with her own dad.
'Suddenly I realized that I would never get that moment, my dad speaking about me in adulthood at my wedding,' she said. 'It was devastating. I left the dinner table, stepped outside, and wept in the bushes.'