Last year, Demi Moore revealed in her bestselling memoir, "Inside Out," that she was shunned by her three daughters for several years as she struggled to cope with addiction and other issues. Now the youngest of her three girls, daughter Tallulah Willis, 26, has opened up about that period of estrangement — and how she and her mom were finally able to move past it and heal.
Sara Jaye Weiss/Shutterstock
In a Mother's Day 2020 Instagram post, Tallulah — who's spent the last few months quarantining with Demi and her sisters (as well as dad Bruce Willis, 65, who remains friendly with Demi) in Idaho — sent love to the moms who were reading her message, which was accompanied by a photo of Tallulah with Demi, 57. "Channeling love and strength to every mother to be, tired mamas, step moms, and mamas who've lost something precious. I'm sending it to anyone who struggles to celebrate a day when it reminds them of a loss," she began the lengthy post.
Tallulah then went on to explain how in the past, Mother's Day was a tough holiday for her. "I didn't talk to my mom for almost 3 years and during that shattered time this day would transport me from fragmented pieces to absolute dust," she wrote. "I remember tearing up driving to work upon hearing a radio ad that cheerily recommend which 'perfume Mom would absolutely adore.' I digested the entire celebratory nature of the day as an insensitive slight to MY pain and MY story.
"However, my story changed," she added. "Through a metamorphosis of inward self reflection and a malleability to forgive, 3 years did not stretch to forever. The gratitude of that truth has never lost its potency."
Phillip Faraone/Vanity Fair/Getty Images
Tallulah went on to praise Demi, explaining, "I am magnetically transfixed by my mother, if you know me personally you know the magnitude of her presence in my life. I often wonder what kind of connection could be formed were I to meet the 26 year old Demi. I think we'd have a lot of laughter. The kind where you are silent and doubled over and gasping for a sliver of air."
She concluded her heartfelt post, "The here and now is a day that started with a running hug to my maternal deity and a sloppy cheek kiss. I revel in all that you are @demimoore and all that you continue to teach me. I witness what this day means for you, and where you came from. Every nook and cranny of you is worthy and gilded. I love you. eternally your baby, tallulah belle."
In her 2019 book "Inside Out," Demi opened up about her disintegrating relationship with Tallulah and her older daughters, Scout Willis, 28, and Rumer Willis, 31, following a 2012 incident: Paramedics were called when Demi had a seizure after smoking synthetic cannabis and inhaling nitrous oxide at a party she went to with Rumer.
"Would I even consider doing drugs with my kid there if I were in my right mind? Of course not," Demi wrote in her book. "I scared Rumer so badly when she saw me there, semiconscious on the floor; she thought I might die in front of her." After the health crisis, Rumer, Scout and Tallulah didn't want to speak to Demi until she got help. According to Demi, "it would be three years before we were able to find our way back to one another."
In an interview with The New York Times to promote her memoir, Demi — who'd over the decades struggled with the fallout of childhood trauma, sexual assault, drug and alcohol abuse and the implosion of multiple high-profile romances — admitted that at the time, following her split from third husband Ashton Kutcher, "Part of my life was clearly unraveling. I had no career. No relationship."
On Mother's Day, Demi posted photos of her modern family – her girls and their boyfriends, plus ex Bruce and his wife, Emma Heming, and their two young daughters – all outside while isolating together in Idaho. "Thankful to be with family today (and every day)," Demi captioned the slideshow of photos on Instagram.
