Todrick Hall said earlier this week that his friend Stephen “tWitch” Boss the DJ for the “Ellen DeGeneres Show” who died by suicide last month was under a lot of pressure because of his boss’s “toxic workplace” scandal.
via: Newsweek
The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner confirmed to Newsweek that the beloved Ellen DeGeneres Show DJ’s cause of death was suicide, after he was found on December 13 in a motel room in Encino, California.
In a recent interview with Page Six, singer and choreographer Hall, who described Boss as a friend, suggested that the pressure surrounding DeGeneres’ toxic workplace scandal deeply affected the dancer’s state of mind in the months before his death.
Allegations that it was a tough environment for staffers behind the scenes of DeGeneres’ show emerged in 2020. Boss defended and stood by the show.
“People were looking at him like, ‘Why are you still supporting this woman?'” Hall, a RuPaul’s Drag Race judge, said, “and I think he was under a lot of pressure.”
“I don’t know what was going on in his life that may [have led] him to make that decision but I do understand,” he added. “Right now when I get online some days like right now, if I was in the wrong position of where this abuse would keep happening for years and years and years, there’s only so much a human being can take.”
Hall’s speculation about Boss’s state of mind in the months leading up to his death sparked backlash from a number of social media users.
“Todrick Hall is a garbage dumpster of a human being,” wrote one Twitter user, “Speculating on the suicide of another man and then making the conversation about himself and why people hate him. Todrick … we LOVED tWitch.”
https://twitter.com/KOrtegaRojas/status/1618742753009213440?s=20&t=ImUlBlCqwR0trZTMX7Y-gg
Echoing that sentiment, another said: “This is why people continue to not like Todrick. In one breath he’s talking about why tWitch may have taken his life and then makes it about himself. Let’s not speculate anymore. The family is still trying to heal.”
This is why people continue to not like Todrick. In one breath he’s talking about why tWitch may have taken his life and then makes it about himself. Let’s not speculate anymore. The family is still trying to heal. #RIPTwitch https://t.co/UQX0zZV6hR
— K E M P I R E ? (@TheKempire) January 26, 2023
When an excerpt of the interview was shared on Page Six’s Instagram account, several users of the platform also piled in with their thoughts on the matter.
“Todrick is wrong on so many levels for putting out a statement like this at a time like this,” wrote one Instagram user.
“The only person that knows why this happened isn’t here,” commented another. “Todrick] needs to stop. This man has a wife. If she didn’t ask you to speak out on the cause just stop… tacky and unnecessary.”
“On Ellen’s birthday posting this? Tacky,” said another. DeGeneres, who has spoken of her admiration for Boss on numerous occasions, turned 65 on January 26.
Shortly after Boss had passed away, DeGeneres took to Instagram to share a photo of herself embracing the dancer on what appeared to be the set of their show.
“I’m heartbroken,” the comedian captioned the image. “tWitch was pure love and light. He was my family, and I loved him with all my heart. I will miss him. Please send your love and support to [his wife] Allison and his beautiful children—Weslie, Maddox, and Zaia.”
