In an emotional video message, Ellen DeGeneres honours her longtime coworker Stephen “tWitch” Boss.
In an Instagram post on Friday, DeGeneres fought back tears as she urged her followers to remember the late hip hop dancer and DJ. The two had previously collaborated on her daytime talk show, where Boss began as a guest DJ and later became the show’s co-executive producer. On December 13, he committed suicide at the age of 40.
“Everyone is in pain and trying to make sense of it, and we’ll never make sense of it,” a tearful DeGeneres said before the video began.
“The holidays are difficult… But, in order to honour tWitch, I believe the best thing we can do is laugh, hug each other, play games, dance, and sing. That is how we honour him: by doing the things he enjoyed, such as dancing. We do that because he liked music and games.”
Boss first caught DeGeneres’ attention in 2010, when he was a cast member on “So You Think You Can Dance” and worked on a routine with her, a moment DeGeneres described as “a crash course in getting to know each other.”
He was later invited as a guest DJ on “Ellen” in 2013, before becoming a show staple the following year. He pumped up the studio audience with his signature dance routine, which began each episode of the show.
“It wasn’t a happy holiday, but he was pure light,” everyone said in the comments. That was obvious to anyone who knew him. “If you didn’t know him, you saw that,” DeGeneres said at the end of her tribute, urging her fans to “check in on people” during these difficult times.
“Let us remember him, remember him, and send love to one another.”
Allison Holker, a dancer, had previously honoured Boss on social media, calling him her “ONE and ONLY.”
“Oh, my heart hurts. “We miss you so much,” she wrote in the caption of their selfie, which showed her resting her head on Boss’ shoulder and the two smiling.
The post had received over 75,000 comments as of Friday, including a heartfelt response from DeGeneres.
“There is a lot of love coming your way. “I hope you can feel it,” the talk show host wrote on Facebook.
“We love you, Ally,” Derek Hough responded. We’ve all got you.”
‘Thinking of you and your family and sending my love and strength,” Naomi Campbell wrote on Instagram.
