Why is Bruce Willis now unable to speak?

Glenn Gordon Caron, creator of the 80s television show Moonlighting, which starred Bruce Willis and Cybill Shepherd, has revealed that the actor has lost his language skills and is incommunicative due to frontotemporal dementia.

“He used to be a voracious reader - he didn’t want anyone to know that; and he’s not reading now. All those language skills are no longer available to him, and yet he’s still Bruce,” Caron told the New York Post.

“My sense is the first one to three minutes he knows who I am. When you are with him you know it is Bruce and you are grateful that he is there, but the joie de vivre is gone,” he added.

Caron told the outlet that he occasionally communicates with Willis’ wife, Emma Heming Willis, and his older children. He also talked about how the actor feels now that Moonlighting, which ran for 67 episodes between 1985 and 1989, has been digitally remastered with the series returning to streaming platform Hulu this month.

“I know he’s excited. I know he’s really happy that the show is going to be available for people,” Caron shared. “I was able to communicate with him, before the disease rendered him uncommunicative as he is now, about hoping to get the show back in front of people,” he added.

Bruce Willis’ diagnosis and retirement from acting

In March 2022, after more than forty years of artistic career, Bruce Willis' family announced his retirement from acting due to brain damage.

According to what was expressed by his family on social networks, the Die Hard actor was diagnosed with aphasia - a type of brain damage that affects the ability to communicate through speaking, writing, or mimicry due to injuries to the brain.

Almost a year later, in February of this year, Bruce Willis’ family reported that the actor’s condition had progressed to frontotemporal dementia (FTD). The family revealed that there are currently no treatments for this disease.

“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,” the family shared in a statement at the time.