Stephen “tWitch” Boss‘ family is continuing to speak out after Allison Holker‘s controversial book was released.
Boss’ mother, Connie Boss Alexander, and brother Drè Rose appeared on the Tuesday, February 11, episode of CBS Mornings. Both of them said that Holker’s claims about her late husband’s drug use and the possibility that he was sexually abused as a child came as a shock.
“To use my brother’s name and make it seem like he had this serious addiction problem, this sexual abuse allegation,” Rose told host Gayle King. “That could have been true, but I don’t think that’s the reason why my brother isn’t here today.”
When King asked why Rose believes his brother is gone, he replied, “I think that’s a question for Allison. I think she knows more than us because she was there. She knows his last known whereabouts. She knows the last conversation they had.”
Rose also called out Holker for speaking about Boss’ alleged drug use without talking to the family first.
Stephen ‘tWitch’ Boss’ Family Speaks Out After Allison Holker’s Book
“I knew that recreationally he’s used and tried things, that wasn’t a shock to me,” he told King. “This cornucopia of drugs that had to be Googled, we don’t even know if those were [his] — we don’t know anything to be true. It’s hearsay. It’s someone else’s version, and if that is the truth, then there could have been a better way to bring that to the family and then discuss what that meant.”
Both Boss Alexander and Rose went on to note that they were unaware about any possible sexual abuse in Boss’ past. When Holker went public with that claim, Rose said it was the first anyone in the family had heard of it.
“That was new. That was a shock to me,” he explained. “It was a shock to our father, because when that comes up, it’s like, ‘Well, hold on, a male figure.’ So now you have our family looking at each other like, ‘Well, what happened?’ And we didn’t know anything of that nature.”
In response to the family’s interview, Holker issued the following statement to CBS News: “Connie has and will continue to be a positive and loving figure in Maddox and Zaia’s lives. From grandparents day at school, to family lunches, ice cream dates and Cameron’s video game meetups with Maddox, we hope to continue these traditions over the years and work together to keep Stephen’s memory alive.”
In a clip released earlier this month, Boss’ loved ones addressed Holker’s book and the interviews she participated in before its release. “I think people deserve the ability to share their story. I get that. But how it was presented and how it was on a cover of a magazine and there was a public, you know, launch or campaign about it, we shouldn’t have to find out about that in the media. We’re a family,” Rose said.
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Holker referenced Boss’ personal journal entries in her memoir, This Far: My Story of Love, Loss and Embracing the Light, which was published February 4. When asked whether she would be open to reading the journals herself, Boss Alexander replied, “I think I would.”
“I think so, just to feel closer to him, ’cause these are his thoughts and maybe get a clearer understanding,” she continued. “You know, he’s my son. [They show] who he was and what he was thinking from time to time.”
Rose agreed. “I think those journals will tell you a lot. I think there’s things in those journals that are good and bad, but I also [think] there’s journals about his personal life, his marital life, that are in there,” he said. “I feel, believe, that there’s been a cherry-picking of things from the journals to reveal or share. And if we’re just gonna be completely honest, talk about it all.”
In a subsequent clip, Boss Alexander spoke candidly about Holker, 37, discussing Boss’ apparent drug abuse. (Holker previously revealed to People that she found a “cornucopia” of drugs — including mushrooms and pills — hidden in shoe boxes following her husband’s death.)
“I’m not saying that my son was perfect,” Boss Alexander said. “I do believe he had experiences where he tried this, that or the other. But no, I don’t believe that there was that type of issue, that type of problem.”
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Boss died by suicide in December 2022 at the age of 40. An autopsy previously obtained by Us Weekly revealed there was no trace of drugs or alcohol in Boss’ system at the time of his death.
“I applaud speaking about mental health awareness because of course there was something going on there at the end that we were not aware of,” Boss Alexander continued. “I applaud that. If that was the intent of the book to make people aware, look out for these types of signs, there’s a way to say that in general without denigrating the memory and the legacy that he built and that’s there for his children.”
Holker shared kids Maddox, 8, and Zaia, 5, with Boss, whom she married in 2013. Holker previously welcomed daughter Weslie, 16.
As her book and its promotion sparked backlash, Holker defended the project, noting via her Instagram Story last month that she was still “trying to put the pieces together” after Boss’ death. She issued a statement regarding the CBS interview before it aired.
“Connie has and will continue to be a positive and loving figure in Maddox and Zaia’s lives. From grandparents’ day at school to family lunches, ice cream dates and [Stephen’s brother] Cameron’s video game meet-ups with Maddox, we hope to continue these traditions over the years and work together to keep Stephen’s memory alive,” Holker told CBS News.
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