Appearing on Jada Pinkett Smith's Red Table
Talk, Rumer and Tallulah Willis painted the
shocking picture of their anxiety-riddled
childhood.
But it wasn't the first time they spoke out
about how their mom Demi Moore's dark secrets
impacted their lives.
Rumer admitted to Howard Stern that it was
definitely awkward when her mom started dating
That '70s Show star, Ashton Kutcher, in 2003.
So, exactly why was it weird, you ask?
Because Rumer had posters of Kutcher on her
bedroom walls.
And not because she thought he was ugly.
"I'm tellin ya Jackie this body is a curse."
Moore totally moved in on her own daughter's
celebrity crush.
Rumer later told Howard,
"I feel like I told my sister that at some
point, I was like, 'Man.
Alright, well…"
"That's Ashton Kutcher."
"...gotta cross him off the list.'"
Though Willis admitted that Kutcher was a
quote "really great stepfather," she did swap
out the posters of him on her wall.
And she revealed that she was maybe even a
little impressed that her then 40-year-old
mother could score a 25-year-old A-lister.
"No, I mean, I feel like I was kind of impressed
like, 'Yeah girl, get it.'"
Kutcher and Rumer reportedly still have a
warm relationship, even though he's since
moved on and started a family with Mila Kunis.
According to E! News, Rumer reconnected with
her former step-dad after Kunis gave birth
to the couple's first child.
Demi Moore was once the highest paid actress
in Hollywood.
"Now you just let me put some music on while
you take off those pretty little pants."
And while it seems like she'd have all the
confidence in the world, in reality, she was
rattled by anxiety and addiction.
In the star's eye-opening memoir Inside Out,
the actress opened up about how her traumatic
childhood, including her mother's multiple
attempts on her own life, led her to quote,
"addiction, anxiety, eating disorders, insomnia
and PTSD."
And this trauma later affected her daughters.
"Addiction is in the history of my family."
During Demi's Red Table Talk episode, Rumer
made the heartbreaking confession that her
mother's lack of self-esteem wrecked her own
perception of herself.
As fans might remember, Rumer didn't have
the easiest time, growing up as a celebrity's
kid, and she was routinely bullied by tabloids
for her appearance.
She said,
"If my mom doesn't love herself, like, how
can I do that?"
"Right.
How can I expect her to love herself?"
She added that she once felt unloveable no
matter what she did to her alter her outside
appearance, and revealed on the show,
"Whatever the outside reflection is, there's
something innately about me that I have to
earn love from people and like constantly
prove myself."
Despite her traumatic childhood, Moore put
on a tough face for her children.
During an appearance on Present Company with
Krista Smith, the actress even admitted that
she held off on releasing her memoir to protect
her young daughters.
Unfortunately, Moore's closed-off strength
ended up driving a wedge between her and daughter
Tallulah.
On Red Table Talk, Tallulah admitted,
"I felt like my mom made a choice to hold
back certain things from, like, sharing about
her past.
And I think that it always made me feel very
far away from her."
Tallulah and Moore have actually endured similar
struggles.
They've both fought addiction, and even approached
romantic relationships in a similarly unhealthy
way.
In Tallulah's experience, intimate acts had
largely been expected of her.
Which was something her mother also revealed
of her own history, via her book.
"In the book, she talks about...how she felt
she needed to, and how she felt like it was
something expected of her.
Which is pretty much been my exact story."
Moore's struggle with addiction has been well-documented
throughout her decades-long career.
According to Page Six, the actress began heavily
drinking in her 20s and later escalated to
using cocaine.
Though she was sober for nearly 20 years,
she relapsed in her 40s during her relationship
with Kutcher.
Moore's relapse was difficult for her children
to come to terms with because their family
allegedly never talked about it.
Tallulah admitted on the show,
"No idea what was going on.
She had been sober my entire childhood...There
was sort of many years of saying she was sober
and she wasn't, and we couldn't it trust it."
But it wasn't just Moore who was hiding her
relapse from her children.
Tallulah also revealed that the adults in
their lives did their best to protect the
three daughters by saying Moore was sober
when she wasn't.
As of late 2019, Moore is on good terms with
her children and is sober once again.
It took another tragedy for the Willis-Moore
family to reunite after years of estrangement.
This time, it was Tallulah's addiction, not
her mother's, that helped them all bury the
hatchet.
On the show, Moore's youngest daughter revealed
that she first started drinking when she was
14 years old.
While it started out like any other rebellious
teenage story, by the time she was 15, she
had nearly died of alcohol poisoning.
At the height of Tallulah's addiction, Rumer
had even kicked her younger sister out of
her home.
Tallulah had briefly lived in an apartment
before her father relocated her to the Beverly
Hills Hotel.
The day Bruce Willis welcomed his new daughter
with second wife Emma Heming, Tallulah hit
rock bottom.
The star claimed she had "taken…codeine"
and cocaine and that her sister Scout couldn't
wake her up.
"The feeling was like you just have death
on your bones.
I had no regard for my life."
After the incident, Rumer and Scout brought
Tallulah to their mother.
She moved in with Moore and chose to seek
professional treatment.
Rumer said on the show,
"And when we did Tallulah's family week, it
was the first time the five of our immediate
family had been together in, I don't even
know how long."
If you or someone you know is struggling with
addiction, please call the Substance Abuse
and Mental Health Administration's 24/7 National
Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP.
That's 1-800-662-4357.
