(UPDATE: 12/14/2022 AT 6:47 P.M. ET): Stephen “tWitch” Boss died by a “gunshot wound to the head” on Dec. 13, 2022, the coroner’s report from the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner obtained by Page Six confirms. There was no suspected foul play involved in his death. The report noted that as of Wednesday evening, Dec. 14, the case has been closed.
(ORIGINAL STORY): For eight years, Stephen “DJ tWitch” Boss served as the DJ and sidekick for Ellen DeGeneres on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, and following the news of his death, Ellen, 64, posted a photo of herself and tWitch mourning the loss of her close friend on Instagram on Wednesday, December 14. “I’m heartbroken. tWitch was pure love and light,” she wrote. “He was my family, and I loved him with all my heart. I will miss him.”
Ellen concluded her heartbreaking statement by showing support for her friend’s family. “Please send your love and support to Allison and his beautiful children – Weslie, Maddox, and Zaia,” she said.
Boss, 40, reportedly passed away on Tuesday, Dec. 13, according to TMZ. The publication reported that his wife, Allison Holker, went to the Los Angeles Police Department to report that her husband left home without his car. The police reportedly responded to a call of an incident at an L.A. hotel where they found Stephen there. TMZ reports that the DJ took his own life, but the cause of death wasn’t immediately known.
Stephen reflected on his bond with Ellen during Fox’s UpFront in May 2022. “Ellen and I have a bunch of inside jokes that happened during the show,” he said, per E! News. “We just laugh and laugh and laugh.” He said that Ellen Show coming to an end “is the end of such a good era. [The show] completely changed my life and also just gave me such family and such friendship. That’s unforgettable.” He also said that the show’s legacy was “shining a light on people that might not have had a platform… I really hope that we will see a lot more places, whether it be in talk show form or what, shining a light on ordinary people doing incredible things for people in order to help them because it’s bigger than us.”
In the penultimate episode of The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Ellen had Stephen leave his DJ booth and join her on the stage. “I love you so much,” she said before rolling a special video tribute to her friend, per The Wrap. “Whenever he’s not here for whatever reason, it’s just different. I count on him to look over at [me] and make silly jokes. He’s my pal. He’s my sidekick because we have this connection,” Ellen said in the video. “He’s never gonna be out of my life.”
“I love the family that we’ve gained,” he told DeGeneres following the tribute. “Something that I’ll always remember is that you gave me a place where I could just be myself.”
Stephen Boss began his career as a dancer, appearing in Blades of Glory and 2007’s Hairspray before competing in So You Think You Can Dance. After coming in second in the 2008 season, he returned as an All-Star in 2011, 2012, and 2013. He also appeared in movies like Step Up Revolution and Magic Mike XXL and on television shows like Disney’s Fairy Tale Weddings and The Real Dirty Dancing.
If you or someone you know is in crisis, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting TALK to 741741.