Todrick Hall has come under fire for suggesting a “toxic workplace” at The Ellen Degeneres Show could have factored into Stephen “tWitch” Boss‘ death.
People close to late DJ and dancer, who died by suicide at age 40 late last year, are slamming Hall for his claims, which he shared while hyping his new show, The Real Friends of WeHo.
A source who was close to tWitch ripped Hall in an interview with TMZ
, telling the outlet, “It’s extremely negligent and self-serving of Todrick to assume he knows what led to tWitch’s death,” before adding that it’s “unfortunate he would speculate, especially while promoting his own project.”TMZ reported that tWitch “loved his time on Ellen,” where he was a DJ and executive producer.
Hall, who was friends with tWitch, made claims
about the late performer’s death while promoting his new MTV reality series. In an interview on Jan. 25 with Page Six about The Real Friends of WeHo, Hall alleged that DeGeneres’ toxic workplace scandal took a toll on tWitch’s mental health.“People were looking at him like, ‘Why are you still supporting this woman?’ and I think he was under a lot of pressure,” Hall told Page Six.
“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.”In 2020, DeGeneres found herself in hot water after she was accused by former employees of having a workplace culture of “racism, fear and intimidation.” tWitch stood by DeGeneres amidst the building wave of criticism, even garnering some of his own along the way.
tWitch died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound last December, leaving behind his wife and his three children.