A teary-eyed Ellen DeGeneres addressed fans of late dancer and show DJ Stephen “tWitch” Boss and called on them to honor him by doing “the things that he loved to do” in an emotional Instagram video on Friday (You can watch the clip below).
The comedian, who worked alongside Boss from 2014 until the conclusion of “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” this year, acknowledged the difficult days and pain since his death earlier this month.
“Everyone is in pain and trying to make sense of it, and we’ll never make sense of it,” DeGeneres said in the message.
She continued: “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, he loved music, he loved games, so we do that.”
The former talk show host continued her message and recognized that the task “seems hard” and impossible.
“But that’s how we honor him. And 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 said.
DeGeneres previously made a written tribute to Boss and said that she was “heartbroken” over his death.
“tWitch was pure love and light. He was my family, and I loved him with all my heart. I will miss him,” she wrote.
Other messages regarding Boss, a former “So You Think You Can Dance” runner-up, have poured in since his death, as well.
Boss’ mother, Connie Boss Alexander, wrote “Oh if only I could FT to heaven” in a screenshot of a FaceTime call between the two that she shared on Instagram earlier this week.
His wife, Allison Holker Boss, also shared a photo of the two along with the caption this week with the caption “My ONE and ONLY Oh how my heart aches. We miss you so much.”
The 40-year-old dancer died by suicide, according to a Los Angeles County coroner.
He had three kids – Zaia, Maddox and Weslie – with Holker Boss, who he married in 2013.
