At the time, Stallone, 76, shared a series of snaps of his friend on Instagram, writing, “We go back a long way, praying for the best for you and your wonderful family.”
Both actors were involved with Planet Hollywood in 1991, a chain restaurant launched and endorsed by Willis’ former wife Demi Moore and Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Stallone and Willis joined forces once again in 2010 to star together in action film The Expendables.
They went on to film the sequel, The Expendables 2, in 2012, but things became rocky when Willis did not return for the third film.
Instead, Harrison Ford joined the cast, and Stallone celebrated on Twitter, writing in August 12, “Willis out … Harrison Ford in! Great news! Been waiting years for this!”
He clarified, “It’s nothing personal. It’s not like it got personal, and I’m sorry it did sound that way. But it was just actors talking, and things move on. And I think Bruce Willis is a great guy, and he does fantastically entertaining films. And when he nails it, he nails it big time.”
Willis shocked fans in March as his family, including his five daughters, current wife and ex-wife, released a joint statement on Instagram announcing his retirement from acting following his aphasia diagnosis which is “impacting his cognitive abilities”.
His family wrote that it was a “really challenging time”.