Rumer Willis moves to Nashville to begin 'a new chapter' after major win in custody battle with ex-boyfriend

Rumer Willis has moved to Nashville, Tennessee, two months after being awarded primary physical custody of her three-year-old daughter following a custody dispute with her ex-boyfriend Derek Richard Thomas.

The daughter of Bruce Willis and Demi Moore had been living in Idaho since January 2025 after leaving fire-ravaged Los Angeles. 

Willis, 37, made the announcement that she has picked up sticks again in a series of clips posted to her Instagram on Wednesday.

'Moving your whole life across the country is a leap of faith,' the singer-actress shared in the caption, admitting it was an 'emotional' week.

'New chapter, officially delivered,' added the mother-of-one, who celebrated sister Tallulah's wedding last weekend.

The footage showed Willis posing with the moving crew and directing the flow of boxes from house to moving van.

Another clip featured the Dancing with the Stars champ sauntering past the tall boxes stacked in her half-empty Idaho living room before posing with a big smile and arms raised up high.

The cross-country move comes after Willis scored a major custody win in June regarding her and Thomas's daughter Louetta.

Willis was given primary physical custody of Louetta, and she and Thomas were given joint legal custody after agreeing to undergo a custody evaluation.

The judge also established a visitation schedule for Thomas, who will be allowed to spend time with Louetta every other weekend under the supervision of a nanny and he will later be granted overnight visits without supervision.

The former couple were ordered to take part in co-parenting counseling and communicate through a co-parenting app, TMZ also reported.

Legal documents obtained by the Daily Mail showed a bitter falling out between the former couple with Willis accusing Thomas of showing a 'persistent pattern' of 'insane emotional abuse' since they separated, which she claimed was 'often in front of the minor child or while they were trapped in the car with him.'

She also claimed her former partner engaged in 'ongoing coercive control through prolonged circular verbal attacks that he is unable or unwilling to stop.'

Legal documents also showed Thomas had claimed there were tensions between his former partner and her actress mother, who he claimed had threatened to 'destroy' him.

Thomas alleged Willis didn't want her family around in the weeks after Louetta's birth, but her mother ignored her wishes, according to court documents.

He stated that Willis had told him 'directly that she did not want her family present for the first 40 days after Louetta's birth in 2023.'

'Nonetheless, on the day after Louetta was born, Ms. Moore and household staff members came into the home and caused a significant disturbance,' court documents revealed.

'On this occasion, Ms. Moore, apparently based on something said by [Rumer], threatened to 'Destroy me.''

Thomas - who has denied the allegations of abuse - took another swipe at 'overbearing' Moore when he voiced his objections to his former partner moving out of California to Idaho with Louetta.

'At no time did I agree to move out of state with [Rumer],' he said, and that he 'never agreed to allow her to relocate with Louetta after her birth.'

And he alleged that during their relationship, the House Bunny star 'stated on several occasions that she wished to move to Texas or another out-of-state location in order to be free from her mother's overbearing and hostile conduct.' 

The former couple were first linked in May 2022.

Willis announced her split from the musician in August 2024, less than a year after their daughter was born.

Meanwhile, Willis' 2,000-mile move to Nashville aligns with her passion in pursuing a music and singing career.

Nashville is considered the hub for music and Willis does have a background in singing, touring and performing.

She has recorded several singles and soundtrack contributions including the 2025 cover of Christopher Cross' Sailing with Austin Brown and a 2015 cover of Britney Spears' Toxic, plus tracks for the television series Empire.