In 1998, Bruce Willis and Demi Moore's divorce was the break-up event that blew up Hollywood.
Despite living a lavish lifestyle and putting on the facade of a happy family of five hidden
away in Idaho, the couple had been slowly buckling from the strain of filming Hollywood
blockbusters.
And if rumors are to be believed, there may have been infidelities on both sides of the
fence.
By the end, their marriage had become a recipe for disaster, so here's what went wrong.
The pressures of fame
The official story Willis and Moore's split was that they "spent too much time away from
each other."
During the '90s, Willis' career was still on the rise after the success of Die Hard,
and Moore was the highest paid actress in Hollywood.
So it only makes sense that the two would be in demand and juggling busy schedules that
ultimately put a strain on their marriage.
But that's not all there was to the story.
Although their divorce appeared to be sudden, it had allegedly been brewing for quite some
time.
A producer who had worked with Moore told People in 1998, "They have had problems for
at least two years."
"You used to be such a happy-go-lucky guy."
"I'm very happy-go-lucky."
Their troubles reportedly bled into various professional ventures, both in Hollywood and
elsewhere.
People reported that Willis "never visited Moore during the tough four-month shoot of
G.I.
Jane," while the couple fought over Willis' various real estate ventures, which included
rebuilding the small town of Hailey, Idaho.
A former employee of Willis' local restaurant Shorty's revealed to People that, two summers
prior, the couple engaged in a public spat, to the point where Moore "...stood up, slammed
her hands on the table and said, 'I'm sick of your bull and your companies!' and walked
out."
Another complication came from the fact that they were both media mainstays at the time,
which led to rumors, scandalous reports, and everything in between.
In fact, at the time of their split, many tabloids had already been predicting their
divorce for over a year.
Even Moore hinted that the tabloids were a heavy burden on their marriage, eerily telling
Vanity Fair in 1993, "They won't stop until one day they may be right."
Career crash
While Moore's career became white-hot in the '90s following the success of A Few Good Men
and Indecent Proposal, it burned out twice as quickly.
Her infamous role in Striptease was a box-office bomb that severely kneecapped her career.
After the lackluster performance of G.I.
Jane in 1997, studio execs were openly calling Moore's career over by saying, "We don't know
what to do.
People just don't want to see her.
We would have to drag them kicking and screaming to see this movie."
At the same time, Willis' career was on fire with blockbuster roles in The Fifth Element
and Armageddon, the latter of which was released right when the news of their split broke.
Considering they came into their coupling on equal fame footing, the one-sided flop
probably didn't help matters between them much.
Monogamy matters
In a 1996 interview with Playboy, Willis discussed his views on monogamy and didn't seem so convinced
he'd be able to handle the long haul with Moore.
He said, "On an emotional level, to think that you are going to find one person who
understands what you need right now and is able to give it to you, to anticipate what
you will need ten years from now, 20 years from now, 30 years from now – for the rest
of your natural f****ing life – is a myth."
Those words would come back to haunt him once the infidelity allegations started bubbling
over.
Willis was rumored to have had affairs with Liv Tyler and Milla Jovovich, both of which,
if true, would have occurred around the time Willis and Moore's marriage was falling apart.
There was also an alleged incident with an actress Willis hired to manage of his restaurants,
but by that point, Moore had reportedly checked out.
One of her friends told the New York Daily News, "I'm sure Demi heard about other women.
But, at least at the end of their marriage, I don't think she cared."
Perhaps part of the reason why she wasn't so irked by the news was that she had her
own supposed flings.
The most legendary is her rumored one night stand with Leonardo DiCaprio, which both Moore
and Willis have denied.
Rumors also swirled about Moore's wild partying nights with Brad Pitt, Johnny Depp and Ben
Affleck, but again, there's been no concrete evidence of infidelity.
Whether or not any of the rumors were true, the constant allegations being flung at both
sides certainly didn't help hold their marriage together.
Healing takes time
All these years later, Bruce Willis and Demi Moore seem to have found a happy balance co-parenting
their three daughters through divorce.
They've both remarried and have made a point of showcasing their continued unity as a family.
"They made such an effort to have our family be as one family unit as opposed to two separate
things which I think really made an impact."
So, as the old saying goes, all's well that ends well.
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