Hollywood star Bruce Willis is stepping away from acting.
The actor was diagnosed with aphasia, a speech disorder caused by brain damage. For this reason, Willis’ family recently announced that the 67-year-old actor will temporarily retire from his acting career.
“To Bruce’s amazing supporters, as a family, we wanted to share that our beloved Bruce has been experiencing some health issues and has recently been diagnosed with aphasia, which is impacting his cognitive abilities,” the actor’s daughter Rumer Willis wrote on her Instagram. “As a result of this and with much consideration, Bruce is stepping away from the career that has meant so much to him.”
“This is a really challenging time for our family and we are so appreciative of your continued love, compassion, and support,”
“We are moving through this as a strong family unit, and wanted to bring his fans in because we know how much he means to you, as you do to him.”
Aphasia is a neurological condition that affects the part of the brain that controls language. The condition is known to limit a person’s ability to communicate and is often caused by dementia.
Willis is one of the most recognizable actors of the century. The actor had an illustrious career of more than 40 years of acting. Willis became known for his “Die Hard” franchise and starred in multiple unforgettable movies like Pulp Fiction, The Sixth Sense, Sin City, 12 monkeys, Unbreakable among many others.
The John Hopkins School of Medicine states that, while unlikely, some patients are able to completely recover from Aphasia’s speech impediments.
This is especially interesting considering how many athletes in mixed martial arts are looking at the side effects of dementia and cognitive decline. Many well known figures suffer from slurred speech and other cognitive issues. Just recently Curtis Blaydes denied his stutter was a result of a brain condition.
Diego Sanchez has long been someone who is suspected for CTE. Early last year his former manager Joshua Fabia leaked emails where his wife asks of UFC to help with his unhinged behavior in the fall out of a bout.
Another one is Spencer Fisher – Fisher has been under the radar thanks to UFC pay checks prior to their sale. Fisher is confirmed as having dementia and is a strong candidate for CTE (which can be diagnosed only posthumously).
Brain damage awareness is a huge issue among athletes considering that most of them can’t recognize concussions and are unwilling to sideline themselves for extended periods of time.
As for Willis the rumor has it that he has been in cognitive decline for several years now. Los Angeles Times unearthed reports of him having to have reduced workload as far back as two years ago.
And the buck doesn’t stop there either – in one alleged incident two years ago Willis unexpectedly fired a gun loaded with a blank on the wrong cue leaving multiple actors shaken.
Willis’ longtime management team at CAA (the key rival to UFC’s owner Endeavor) made sure that his film shoots were limited to two days.
Willis was paid as much as $2M for two days of work on most films. His handler, Stephen J. Eads, got a producing credit and $200K per film. His earpiece guy, aspiring actor Adam Huel Potter, was paid $4,150 per week and got on-screen roles in each of Willis’ films.