Demi Moore Used To Give Daughter Tallulah Willis Advice She ‘Hated So Much’

When Tallulah Willis was younger, her parents, Demi Moore and Bruce Willis, “really tried to encourage slowing down,” Tallulah told Us Weekly during a recent interview. Though she didn’t really appreciate their advice at the time, she is now embracing it.

In March, Tallulah revealed that she was diagnosed with autism during the summer of 2023, when she was 29 years old. Now, Tallulah is being recognized by Autism Speaks at the 2024 Autism Speaks Gala. She recently spoke to Us Weekly about how the advice her parents gave her when she was younger has helped her navigate her diagnosis.

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Tallulah's mom, Demi Moore, told her to slow down.

Speaking to the news outlet, Tallulah admitted that she “moved a mile a minute.” Because of this tendency, her mom gave her advice that she “hated.” Demi would say, “Slow is fast, Tallulah.” Although she “hated it so much” at the time, she now recognizes that she does have the tendency to “move really fast” and “always want to get stuff done.”

Now, Tallulah’s boyfriend also gives her the same advice that her mom used to give her. “Now my boyfriend [Justin Acee], I told him that, so then he will sometimes say it, and I am like, ‘Ah, but also you’re kind of right, and also fine,’” Tallulah told Us Weekly. “It’s kind of a through line. We all can benefit from slowing down, whether it’s to see the other people in your life and what they’re going through, or noticing what you’re going through.”

Her dad, Bruce Willis, taught her to give herself grace.

Advice from her dad has also helped Tallulah throughout her life. “One of the things that has been really beautiful to explore is this ability to give grace to myself,” Tallulah told Us Weekly. “That was something that my dad really instilled in me at a young age.”

This life lesson from Bruce reminds her to not judge herself too harshly. “He was a big proponent of being gentle with yourself, and it’s very easy for me to judge all of the aspects of my life that are my autism, because I have been in a world where I’ve experienced those things to be deterrents,” Tallulah explained to the news outlet.

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She first disclosed her autism diagnosis publicly by sharing an old video on Instagram.

In March, Tallulah shared an old video from when she was a child on Instagram, subtly sharing her autism diagnosis with the world. In the video, she kept touching her dad’s head while he answered interview questions on camera. Tallulah captioned the video with, “tell me your [sic] autistic without telling me your autistic [sic] 😂.”

A person commented on the video asking if Tallulah was diagnosed with autism as a child, and she wrote back, explaining that she was just diagnosed very recently. “Actually this is the first time I’ve ever publicly shared my diagnosis. Found out this summer and it’s changed my life. ☀️,” Tallulah wrote at the time.

Since she was diagnosed with autism as an adult, Tallulah now tries to raise awareness.

As a woman who was diagnosed with autism when she was almost 30, Tallulah believes raising awareness is important. In July, she told People that “[Her] goal is to help raise as much awareness and understanding around ASD as I possibly can, specifically in supporting women who are more commonly misdiagnosed.”

Finally getting a diagnosis was a “relief,” she said on Today in September. “If I’m being honest, I really hated myself, and I thought I was very broken, so to learn that the elements of myself that I felt were maladies or wrong or just too much for this world are actually OK, and they just require maybe a little bit more tools,” she said at the time, per The Hollywood Reporter.

Tallulah is being recognized for her advocacy.

Tallulah was recognized at Autism Speaks’ Los Angeles Gala on October 24. The organization recognized for “fostering understanding and inclusivity for the autism community” and using “her platform to advocate for awareness and self-care in the hopes that her journey will serve as inspiration for those facing their own challenges,” according to a press release.

She told Us Weekly that the organization’s recognition is “an honor, it’s surreal, it’s exciting.”