In an emotional video message Friday, comedian Ellen DeGeneres paid tribute to former “Ellen” show DJ Stephen “tWitch” Boss, who died last week at the age of 40.
Boss was a resident DJ on the “Ellen DeGeneres Show,” which he joined in 2014. In 2020, he was named co-executive producer of the show, and also filled in as host on several occasions.
DeGeneres told her followers Friday to “laugh” and “hug each other” as a way to honor and remember him.
“To honor tWitch, I think the best thing that we can do is to laugh and hug each other, play games and dance and sing,” DeGeneres said in the video. “That’s the way we honor him. We do the things that he loved to do, which is dancing. He loved music, he loved games.”
This is not the first time DeGeneres has spoken about Boss’ death, but it was her first such public video. Last week, the former “Ellen” host shared a picture to Instagram of her hugging Boss, in which she wrote, “I’m heartbroken.”
Mike Rozman/Warner Brothers/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank/Getty Images
Boss, who often posted dancing videos with his wife on TikTok and Instagram, died in Los Angeles on Dec. 13. His death was ruled a suicide by police. He and his wife, Allison Holker, had three children.
DeGeneres finished the emotional message by encouraging people to “check in on people” and “let people know we’re there for them.”
“I know it’s not a happy holiday, but he was pure light as everybody in the comments said,” Ellen continued. “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.”
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