With the holidays upon us, Ellen DeGeneres is urging people to try and turn a tragedy into some kind of societal triumph.
Just over a week since Stephen ‘tWitch’ Boss was found dead inside of a Los Angeles hotel room, the comedian — on whose talk show Boss served as DJ for several years — has recorded a heartfelt video.
“Everyone is in pain and trying to make sense of it, and we’ll never make sense of it,” DeGeneres spoke into her front-facing camera on Friday, December 23.
She continued as follows:
“The holidays are hard, I think, anyway, but to honor tWitch I think the best thing that we can do is to laugh, hug each other, play games and dance and sing.
“That’s the way we honor him, is we do the things that he loved to do, which is dancing.”
Boss worked alongside DeGeneres as the in-house DJ on her daytime talk show from 2014 until its conclusion, later serving as co-executive producer of the program in 2020.
Boss also finished second in 2008 on So You Think You Can Dance and appeared in the film Step Up 3D.
“He loved music, he loved games, so we do that,” DeGeneres went on in the video. “And I know it seems hard, it seems impossible, but that’s how we honor him.”
The comedian also implored her followers to “hug each other and tell each other we love each other and let people know we’re there for them and check in on people.”
She teared up as she uttered these words.
In conclusion?
“[Boss] was pure light, as everybody in the comments said,” Ellen added at the end of the footage.
“If you knew him, you knew that.
“If you didn’t know him you saw it. Let’s honor him and think about him and send love to one another.”
Boss is survived by his wife, Allison Holker, and three children: Zaia, 3, Maddox, 6, and Weslie, 14.
Holker, who confirmed her husband death in a statement last week to People Magazine, returned to social media on Wednesday, December 21 and simply wrote:
“My ONE and ONLY Oh how my heart aches. We miss you so much.”
She had previously written the following about tWitch:
“It is with the heaviest of hearts that I have to share my husband Stephen has left us,” the choreographer said in a statement at the time.
“Stephen lit up every room he stepped into. He valued family, friends and community above all else and leading with love and light was everything to him.
“He was the backbone of our family, the best husband and father, and an inspiration to his fans.”
Allison added back then:
“To say he left a legacy would be an understatement, and his positive impact will continue to be felt. I am certain there won’t be a day that goes by that we won’t honor his memory.
“We ask for privacy during this difficult time for myself and especially for our three children.
“Stephen, we love you, we miss you, and I will always save the last dance for you.”
May Stephen ‘tWitch’ Boss rest in peace.