Rumer Willis, the daughter of Demi Moore and Bruce Willis, has been in the industry since
she was a child.
Because she has extremely famous parents, Willis has endured a lot of negative press
and criticism throughout her life, with everything from her appearance to her photoshoots being
criticized.
As a result, the young star has been forced to grow up fast in the public eye, and she's
been trying to chart her own path, but that doesn't mean she doesn't suffer with demons
like ordinary people.
For instance, the former Empire star has had a difficult history with drugs and drinking,
but she never let her problems fester or take over her life.
On December 31, 2020, Willis shared a milestone with her fans on Instagram, revealing that
she was four years sober.
The Hostage star wrote,
"So grateful for choosing myself above any need to distract or numb out.
Especially this past year when so much has come up for not just myself but the world.
I feel immense gratitude that even when I have no escape from the feelings that come
up no matter [how] hard or painful they may be, I try my best to live through them and
come out the other side."
The actress, who won Dancing With the Stars in 2015, encouraged others to stay positive
on their own journeys, too.
This isn't the first time that Willis has opened up about her sobriety.
In 2017, she revealed that she was over people assuming she had substance abuse problems,
when she told People,
"My decision to become sober wasn't out of a need necessarily, it was more just that
I did 'sober January' and I just decided to keep going [...] I wouldn’t consider saying
I had a substance abuse problem by any means.
[...] I didn't say I was sober from anything."
Willis already knows about the struggles of maintaining a healthier lifestyle, as she
has witnessed her mother, Demi Moore, battle alcoholism and substance abuse for decades.
Moore was candid about her battle with addiction in her 2019 memoir Inside Out.
Rumer, along with her sisters, Tallulah and Scout, joined their mother for an episode
of Red Table Talk in November 2019, where they discussed how Moore's addiction impacted
them growing up.
Tallulah said on the show,
"I remember, there's just the anxiety that would come up in my body when I could sense
her eyes shutting a little bit more, the way she was speaking, or she would be a lot more
affectionate with me if she wasn't sober."
"There was sort of many years of saying she was sober and she wasn't, and we couldn't
trust it."
Meanwhile, Rumer added that Moore's behaviour was "jarring," and her refusal to get help
caused their relationship to deteriorate after Moore suffered a seizure while partying with
her and her sisters in 2012, something that the Striptease star wrote about in her biography.
Moore said all three of her daughters had shunned her and that caused her to finally
get help for her substance abuse issues with a stint in rehab.
Rumer's younger sister, Tallulah, was also an alcoholic and dealt with body issues when
she was a teen.
In an essay for Teen Vogue in 2015, Tallulah wrote,
"I haven't felt OK with who I am since I was 11 years old.
I've never been perfect.
I've never been a squeaky clean, projected image of what I should be.
I was a big tornado of doubt and self-hate, uncomfortable in my own skin."
Tallulah felt like she didn't fit in with her famous family, and her problems only got
worse when she went to college.
"In college the depression became overwhelming, I didn't sleep or want to talk to anyone [...] I
was so removed from my body and from my mind that it was like I was living in a cardboard
replica of what my life should be."
Drug use went hand-in-hand with Tallulah's drinking, and was something that Rumer witnessed
firsthand.
Rumer recalled of her sister on Red Table Talk,
"She lived with me for a little while and I was like 'There are three wine bottles on
the bedside table' and then all of a sudden my medicine was going missing.
So then I was like 'I love you, you cannot stay with me anymore.'"
Both Rumer and Scout decided to intervene when they saw Tallulah almost overdose on
drugs.
They brought Tallulah to live with their mother, Demi Moore, and it was then she decided to
get treatment.
Rumer explained that her sister's decision to get clean was what brought their family
closer together and has undoubtedly been a driving force as to why she has stayed sober,
too.
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.