Did actor Bruce Willis die in November 2024 amid dementia? No, that's not true: "It's a lie," Willis' attorney told Lead Stories. The social media post spreading that rumor offered no proof that Willis had passed away after his frontotemporal dementia diagnosis. There are no actual news stories that the "Die Hard" actor had passed away as of publication date. While the post about him does not specifically say Willis had died, it implied it with the message, "It's time to say goodbye."
The claim appeared in a post (archived here) on Facebook on November 21, 2024. It said:
With Heavy Hearts...It's time to say goodbye to our lovely Bruce!Our pr:a:yers will always be with you!
New details about Bruce Willis read in the first comment!
This is what the post looked like on Facebook at the time of writing:
(Source: Facebook screenshot taken on Fri Nov 22 19:38:07 2024 UTC)
The first comment in the post had a link to an article (archived here) titled, "It's time to bid farewell to our dear Bruce! What's wrong with Bruce Willis?" but it had no mention of Willis' passing.
"It's a lie" Willis' attorney, Marty Singer, (archived here), told Lead Stories via email on November 22, 2024.
The Willis family published details of his diagnosis on The Association for Frontotemporal Dementia website (archived here) in February 2023:
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). Unfortunately, challenges with communication are just one symptom of the disease Bruce faces. While this is painful, it is a relief to finally have a clear diagnosis.
A search on the Instagram pages for his daughters Rumer, Scout and Tallulah did not reveal anything about their father's passing as of publication date. His wife, Emma Heming Willis, last posted a video of him on November 10, 2024, on her Instagram page (archived here).
Had Willis, a beloved movie star, died it would have been national and international news, but a Google search (archived here) and a Google News search (archived here) did not find any reputable news outlets that reported his passing.
Lead Stories contacted Willis' PR representative and will update the story when a response is received.
Lead Stories previously published a fact check debunking the claim that Willis had died in 2022.
