Ellen DeGeneres producer warned Stephen ‘tWitch’ Boss, staff to not ‘keep in pain’ in eerie video

Footage has emerged of a DJ on The Ellen DeGeneres Show who suicided standing near a colleague who implores staff to not “keep in the pain”.

Ellen DeGeneres producer warned Stephen ‘tWitch’ Boss, staff to not ‘keep in pain’ in eerie video

An eerie video has surfaced of a former executive producer of The Ellen DeGeneres Show standing in front of DJ Stephen “tWitch” Boss — who was found on Tuesday after he died by suicide — and telling the show’s crew, “Don’t keep in the pain,” as the talk show wrapped last year.

“Keep each other close, don’t keep in the pain, talk to someone — anyone,” then-executive producer Andy Lassner is seen urging gathered workers in the haunting clip, posted to Instagram on Wednesday by Johanna Fuentes, a former senior communications executive at Warner Brothers.

Stephen "Twitch" Boss in 2017. (Photo by Frazer Harrison / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / AFP)

The short video shows Mr Lassner in front of Boss and fellow showrunner Mary Connelly, addressing the cast and crew following the taping of the final episode, which aired in May, reported The New York Post.

Boss, 40, was found on Tuesday by a maid at the Oak Tree Inn in Encino, Los Angeles, after he missed his checkout.

Hotel staffers told entertainment website TMZ that Boss “didn’t appear to be in any sort of distress and wasn’t visibly upset about anything.”

An autopsy conducted by the Los Angeles Medical Examiner determined that Boss — who had checked into the hotel less than a mile from his home on Monday.

In the resurfaced video, Mr Lassner alluded to the heavy toll the end of the long-running show could take on his colleagues.

“It is a life change and we’re all going through it,” Mr Lassner told workers in the now-foreboding clip, which was shot during the star-studded, “emotional” finale of the controversial series.

For years, DeGeneres’ talk show was plagued by allegations of a “toxic” work environment, and the host faced a string of negative workplace allegations, for which she subsequently apologised.

“It’s OK to be sad and to reach out to each other because nobody knows this exact experience other than the people who work here,” Mr Lassner continued in the clip, adding that the group “went through it together” and “should be proud” of the work produced on the show over its 19-year run.

Stephen “tWitch” Boss in the background of the video where Ellen producer Andy Lassner console staff after the show’s end. Picture: Instagram.

In her caption for the video, Ms Fuentes said she was “devastated” by Boss’ passing and called him “an immense talent who brought joy to every room he walked into”.

She also echoed Mr Lassner’s words: “As Andy said it best as the show wrapped – let’s keep each other close. Don’t keep in the pain, talk to someone. Anyone”.

Boss’ wife, Allison Holker, 34, confirmed her husband’s passing Wednesday in a heartfelt statement obtained by The Post.

“It is with the heaviest of hearts that I have to share my husband Stephen has left us,” Holker said.

“Stephen lit up every room he stepped into. He valued family, friends and community above all else and leading with love and light was everything to him. He was the backbone of our family, the best husband and father, and an inspiration to his fans”.

When Boss went missing, Ms Holker reportedly ran frantically into an Los Angeles police station, saying her husband had left home without his car, which she claimed was unlike him, according to law enforcement sources.

TWitch was a key person in the Ellen DeGeneres show’s team. Picture: AP

DeGeneres also expressed that she was “heartbroken” over the loss of her longtime friend, whom she has supported since he was on the reality competition So You Think You Can Dance.

“tWitch was pure love and light. He was my family, and I loved him with all my heart,” said DeGeneres, who hired him as her show’s DJ in 2014.

He was promoted to an executive producer in 2020 and stayed on until the embattled finale aired last spring.

This article was published by the New York Post and reproduced with permission.