Allison Holker is opening up about her late husband Stephen “tWitch” Boss’ death in a new memoir titled This Far. She spoke to People about the process of healing, and a discovery she made about Boss before his funeral.
Allison Holker Talks About Late Husband Stephen ‘tWitch’ Boss
Boss died by suicide in December 2022, at the age of 40. After his death, while preparing for his funeral, Holker told People that she discovered a “cornucopia” of drugs in his shoeboxes. The drugs apparently included pills, mushrooms, and “other substances I had to look up on my phone.”
“I was with one of my really dear friends, and we were cleaning out the closet and picking out an outfit for him for the funeral,” Holker explained. “It was a really triggering moment for me because there were a lot of things I discovered in our closet that I did not know existed. It was very alarming to me to learn that there was so much happening that I had no clue [about].”
Holker shared that the discovery “helped me process that he was going through so much and he was hiding so much, and there must have been a lot of shame in that.” She also discovered, through Boss’s journals, that he “was trying to self-medicate and cope with all those feelings because he didn’t want to put it on anyone because he loved everyone so much.”
Holker revealed that, in his journals, Boss alluded to being sexually abused by a male figure during his childhood. She explained her hope that by sharing her late husband’s story, she can encourage “people dealing with the same thing” to “help themselves out of the shadows and [know] you’re going to be okay.”
Although Holker has framed her decision to speak up about Boss’ struggles as a way to help people in similar situations, she has received criticism from Boss’ friends and family. Courtney Ann Platt, a friend of the couple, called it “the most tacky, classless, opportunistic act I have ever seen in my entire life.”
Platt commented that attendees of Boss’ funeral “had to sign some weird NDA … not to share anything or ruin his name as if that was on anyone’s mind in the first place.” She added, “Here you go and write a book with all the dirty laundry smearing his name and attempting to dim the bright loyal, loving, light that was your husband, my friend.”
Boss’ cousin also posted on X (formerly Twitter) about the NDA, adding of Holker, “She’s been trying to tarnish his legacy and refuses to let the Boss family see the children. Only to exploit and LIE on my cousin. Hell no.”
Fellow dancer Kelly Gibson also commented on People‘s interview with Holker, writing, “This whole thing made me sad. He’s gone. Why tear apart this name? This paycheck was not worth disgracing his name.”
Holker’s book, This Far: My Story of Love, Loss, and Embracing the Light, will be available February 4.
Words by:
Jill O'Rourke Jill O’Rourke is a contributor at Talent Recap, writing news stories and recaps for shows like ‘AGT,’ ‘The Voice,’ and ‘American Idol.’ She graduated from the University of Georgia with a degree in English and Film Studies, and has been writing about pop culture since 2012, with previous bylines at Crushable and A Plus. Jill spends her free time binge-watching sitcoms and daydreaming about life as a hobbit
