The entertainment world continues to reel from the sudden and tragic passing of Stephen “tWitch” Boss, the dancer who was well-known as the DJ on Ellen DeGeneres’ longtime talk show. The host herself reacted to the heartbreaking news of Boss’ death by suicide at the age of 40, saying she “loved him with all my heart.” Now, producer Andy Lassner has penned his own heartfelt message. In a lengthy post, Lassner spoke about what tWitch meant to everyone who crossed his path, and his musings elicited comments from popular guests of the talk show, including Jennifer Aniston and Jennifer Garner.
The light Stephen Boss emitted seemed to touch all corners of the entertainment world. Everyone from Justin Timberlake to actors Kerry Washington and Jason Alexander to those he knew from the Dancing With the Stars and So You Think You Can Dance community have all paid tribute to tWitch on social media. Andy Lassner received A-list support following his own Instagram post that talked about how tWitch made everybody feel like "the most important person in the world," and the reason he's missed so much and by so many is proof that he was "our flame. Our joy. Our dancer." Check out the producer’s post below:
The beautiful and eloquently written message struck a chord with several celebrities, with frequent Ellen guests Jennifer Garner and Jennifer Aniston each commenting with heart emojis.
Jennifer Aniston appeared on both the first and final episodes of The Ellen DeGeneres Show (and lots more in between) and, in addition, to her show of support for producer Andy Lassner, she also posted a tribute on her Instagram Stories (per Hello magazine) that featured a video of her and tWitch walking arm-in-arm with the caption:
Heartbroken. The pure love and joy you brought into this world will be so deeply missed. Rest in peace, beautiful soul.
Andy Lassner emphasized in his post how much tWitch never made anything about himself and said the light from his flame still burns in us:
There was a heavy burden that none of us realized he was carrying. He must have been so tired. But we didn’t know because he never wanted it to be about him. Ever. So now we can either spend all of our time wondering why and how and never being satisfied with the answers we imagine. Or we can focus on being grateful for the gift he gave us by allowing us to take light from his flame. The thing is that light still burns in us. All of us.
Other celebrities who showed support for Andy Lassner in the comments included another face in daytime TV, Jennifer Hudson, who said:
Well said Andy ! Well said !
Mario Lopez also contributed heart emojis, while Rosie O’Donnell said the producer’s words were “just beautiful.” Carnie Wilson agreed, saying his words were “just perfect,” and dancer Cheryl Burke commented:
Thank you for this 🙏🏼🤍
Stephen “tWitch” Boss was found dead in a motel room on December 14 with what police say was a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Police said there was a suicide note that alluded to past “struggles.” His wife, Allison Holker Boss, had reported him missing that morning, after she said he uncharacteristically left the house on foot the day before and was not answering her calls.
The DJ/dancer had reportedly checked into the Oak Tree Inn in Encino, California, which was less than a mile from his home. Housekeeping “repeatedly” knocked on the door of his room when he didn’t check out the next morning and eventually called management to open the door. That was when his body was found.
Officers reportedly had gone with Allison Holker Boss to help her search their house for clues, before the call came in from the motel. In addition to his wife, tWitch leaves behind three children: Weslie, 14; Maddox, 6; and Zaia, 3. Like so many stars, we here at CinemaBlend continue to extend our thoughts to the Boss family at this time.
If you or someone you know are having thoughts of self-harm, please call or text the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988.
