Bruce Willis calls no-mask incident at Rite Aid 'an error in judgment'
Bruce Willis is urging people to wear masks — after he was escorted from a Rite Aid drug store in Los Angeles for not wearing one.
The Die Hard actor, 65, said, “It was an error in judgment,” in a statement to People magazine about the incident.
He added, “Be safe out there everyone and let’s continue to mask up.”
Photos showed the action star wearing jeans, a leather coat and a bandanna — but around his neck — as he strode through the store on Monday. Los Angeles County has been the epicenter of the coronavirus crisis in California since December, with more than 12,500 COVID-19-related deaths. An average of 10 people test positive for COVID-19 every minute in Los Angeles County, according to the county’s Department of Public Health.
The New York Post’s Page Six reported that Willis was asked to leave the store after being asked to put on a mask and refusing. All he had to do was pull up the scarf around his neck. Instead, he walked out without making his purchase.
Per Rite Aid policy, customers are required to wear face coverings in all locations — and this has been the case since July 2 of last year. “If a customer does not have a face covering, Rite Aid will provide one free of charge,” the company’s website states.
Prior to issuing a statement, Willis’s wife, Emma, said one was coming. When someone commented on her Instagram page about the movie star being “a hero and a legend” because “masks are tyrannical,” the model replied, “Bruce is a hero and legend but he still needs to be wearing a mask and he knows that.”
She added, “He made a terrible mistake. Unfortunately sometimes that happens when you’re human. He will acknowledge it and own it.”
Willis and Emma, who’s his second wife, relocated back to Los Angeles in 2019 after living on the East Coast for many years with their two young daughters. The star’s ex-wife, Demi Moore, and their three daughters — Rumer, Scout and Tallulah — are all based in the L.A. area.
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