'He was our flame': ‘Ellen’ producer Andy Lassner pays heartfelt tribute to late Stephen ‘tWitch’ Boss
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Honoring his longtime friend, producer Andy Lassner paid a heartfelt tribute to the late Stephen 'tWitch' Boss after the dancer’s death by suicide at age 40.
In a heartfelt Instagram tribute to the late star on Friday, December 16, the former 'Ellen DeGeneres Show' producer, 55, remembered Boss as "everyone's friend." "So many people on social media are posting pictures of themselves with Twitch. Talking about their close friendships with him," he wrote under a black and white photo of Boss. "Talking about the texts they exchanged with him just last week. Talking about the conversation they once had with him. The thing is - it's all true. It's all real," he added.
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"Those who knew him are not trying to make this tragedy about themselves. They are just trying to convey to you who Twitch was," he continued. "He made everything about you. He made you feel like the most important person in the world. And he did this for everybody. Not just the people he needed or that were 'important'. He did it for everybody. It's doesn't sound real. But it is. All of it."
"He was everyone's friend. He really did care for every single person who worked at the show and everyone in his life," he said. "And the thing is if you met him just once - you felt that feeling. That light. That's why I think you and I are hurting. Because we all counted on him. He was our flame. Our joy. Our dancer."
The executive producer also talked about Boss's suicide and urged others to continue the professional dancer's legacy. "There was a heavy burden that none of us realized he was carrying. He must have been so tired," he wrote. "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." He concluded, "The thing is that light still burns in us. All of us. Let's try and share that light with the people we love. It's really all we can do. And that's enough. It's more than enough."
Stephen 'tWitch' Boss, was found dead from a gunshot wound in Oak Tree Motel in LA, which is a 15-minute walk from his home at about 11.15 am Tuesday, December 13. The DJ died by suicide. The 40-year-old dancer celebrated his wedding anniversary with his wife Allison Holker, 34, three days before killing himself. Hotel staffers said to TMZ that Boss "didn’t appear to be in any sort of distress and wasn’t visibly upset about anything." The Los Angeles Medical Examiner's autopsy revealed that Boss, who checked into the hotel on Monday, December 12, had shot himself in the head the next day.