Allison Holker’s new memoir detailing her recovery from husband Stephen “tWitch” Boss’s 2022 suicide is not sitting well with some family members and friends.
The So You Think You Can Dance judge’s book, This Far: My Story of Love, Loss, and Embracing the Light, isn’t out until Feb. 4, but revelations she made about the Ellen DeGeneres Show producer and DJ in a People magazine cover story have left his mother, Connie Boss Alexander, “absolutely appalled.” And she’s not the only one.
Holker has defended herself, saying that her “only intention in writing the book” is “to help other people.”
What did Holker reveal about her late husband?
In Holker’s interview with People, she talked about discovering her husband’s “drug addiction” when she was looking for an outfit for him to wear at his funeral. She claimed she discovered a “cornucopia” of drugs, including mushrooms, pills and “other substances I had to look up on my phone.” She said it was an alarming moment for her to learn that he was hiding so much, and said he must have felt “a lot of shame.”
This Far: My Story of Love, Loss and Embracing the Light comes out on Feb. 4. (Harper Select)
She also said that Boss’s diary had entries about being a childhood sexual abuse survivor, which she had been unaware of. She also shared his last words — told to their daughter Weslie, now 16.
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The outlet also ran an excerpt from the book, detailing how Holker “raced down the hallway, shrieking” when police told her they had found her husband’s body at a hotel.
Who is speaking out against Holker?
Boss’s mother, brother Dré Rose and friend Courtney Ann Platt are among the lead critics.
Boss Alexander said the “family is absolutely appalled by the misleading and hurtful claims made about my son.” She said the “untruths about Stephen have crossed every line of decency,” and he and his surviving children “don’t deserve this.”
She continued, “For the last two years, I have remained quiet and away from the public eye to protect my family. My primary focus has been on healing and attempting to remain connected to my grandchildren. But when I read these dreadful claims about my baby, our beloved Stephen, I realized I could not stay silent any longer. Our family will ensure his name and memory are protected, and we are committed to defending his honor.”
That came after Platt, who appeared on So You Think You Can Dance alongside Holker, accused Holker of launching a “smear campaign for a buck” and it’s “by far the most tacky, classless, opportunistic act I have ever seen in my entire life.”
Platt said she had been silent too, but no longer. She alleged that Holker made everyone who attended Boss’s funeral, including his mother, sign “some weird NDA,” or nondisclosure agreement, “and here you go and write a book with all the dirty laundry.”
Platt asked Holker, “This is how you protect his children from any further humiliation, hurt and despair? This is what you want them to remember about him? You have moved on, you’re living your life, you’re on every carpet you can get on … and you … do this? Get a journal, a therapist, a friend… but publishing a book shamelessly sharing the pages of your husband’s journal? People magazine? What a joke.”
Holker with kids Maddox, Weslie and Zaia at the Hollywood premiere of Disney and Pixar’s Inside Out 2 on June 10, 2024. (Rodin Eckenroth/Getty Images for Disney/Pixar)
She called Holker “a living, breathing bulldozer,” adding, “Shame on you Allison, shame on your money hungry team.”
Rose shared Platt’s post on Instagram Stories, writing, “No lies told…,” as well as Boss Alexander’s family statement. He’s also posted social media commentary calling out Holker (including one that called her “a disgrace and despicable human to do this to a grieving family”) and commented about Holker in another post, “My family prays you get help. My family prays you come around to being a better human being.”
Other dancers in their circle, including Kelly Gibson, Comfort Fedoke and Chelsie Hightower, have been critical of Holker’s book; meanwhile, Jenna Dewan praised Holker’s candor, saying the memoir will help other people.
The Ellen DeGeneres Show producer Andy Lassner didn’t address the drama but posted on Instagram that Boss “was light. Kindness and joy in motion. That’s how I remember him every day. He is deeply missed.”
How has Holker responded to the criticism?
Holker addressed the drama in a lengthy Instagram Stories post on Jan. 8.
“I want to be clear that my only intention in writing the book is to share my own story as well as part of my life with Stephen to help other people,” began Holker, who also shared Maddox, 8, and Zaia, 5, with Boss. “Just like you, I never really knew what happened, and even as I am trying to put the pieces together I will never really know. If you decide to read the book, hopefully you’ll see my intention is to celebrate the love and life I shared with Stephen and our three beautiful children, and also the more complex aspects of both of our lives.”
Holker responded to the criticism of her book on Jan. 8. (Allison Holker via Instagram)
She continued, “I hope that by sharing our full story maybe I can help someone else who might see themselves or a loved one in Stephen. In sharing I hope that maybe they can catch some … red flags that I missed before it’s too late. … I believe that if Stephen were able to choose, he would choose to have his story told if it meant saving even one life.”
Holker, who went public with her tech CEO boyfriend Adam Edmunds in September, added that proceeds from this book will fund the foundation she started for Boss, Move with Kindness, which has an emphasis on mental health awareness.
If you or someone you know is experiencing suicidal thoughts, call 911, or call the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 or 1-800-273-8255 or text HOME to the Crisis Text Line at 741741.
