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Two years after his death, Stephen “tWitch” Boss’ family is feuding—and one member of the family is hitting back. His 16-year-old stepdaughter Weslie recently took to social media to defend her mom, Allison Holker, after weeks of intense backlash over Holker’s upcoming memoir about the late dancer and Ellen DeGeneres Show DJ.
Related: tWitch & His Wife Were Considering Having More Kids a Month Before His Death—Meet His 3 Children
In an emotional Instagram video posted on January 10, 2025, Weslie opened up about the flood of criticism she and her mom have been facing. The controversy all began when Boss’ family members publicly slammed Holker’s decision to write about his struggles with addiction and mental health in her new book, This Far: My Story of Love, Loss, and Embracing the Light
. Boss died by suicide in December 2022 at age 40, leaving behind Holker and their three children.
“My stepdad’s been gone for two years and I’m still getting hate comments,” Weslie shared in her video message. “It’s just complicated and for no reason. It’s not just a social media gig; this is literally my life.”
While he wasn’t her biological dad, Weslie explained that Boss raised her since she was just one year old. “I get that my relationship with Stephen seems complicated, but this man raised me my entire life,” she explained, clearly frustrated by how people have been characterizing their bond. “He literally raised me and it’s hurtful to see… so many new stories.”
The drama hit a new level when Boss’ family started calling out Holker for sharing his private journal entries and personal struggles in her book. Meanwhile, Holker has since defended her decision to include these details, explaining that she wrote the book to help others dealing with similar mental health and substance abuse issues. She also plans to donate proceeds from the book sales to a nonprofit created in Boss’ memory.
One of the biggest points of contention for the family was the use of NDAs (non-disclosure agreements) that Holker asked people to sign at Boss’ funeral. But Weslie wants to set the record straight on that issue: “My mom asked for NDAs to be signed when we were seeing Stephen’s body because God forbid somebody that went to that took a photo of Stephen and put it on the internet,” she explained, highlighting her mom’s efforts to protect their family’s privacy during such a devastating time.
Things got even messier when Boss’ family posted on social media about how “blood’s thicker than water”—something Weslie took as a direct shot at her and her mom. “If you don’t see me as Stephen’s daughter, that’s cool, take it how you want. I know for a fact that’s never how he saw it,” she fired back.
Despite all the tension, Weslie says Holker is still trying to keep Boss’ family connected to his younger kids, Maddox, 8, and Zaia, 5. As for Weslie, says she feels “disrespected by them” and has decided to step back from her relationship with his side of the family altogether.
As for accusations that her mom is just trying to cash in on Boss’ story after his death? “That’s not how my mom is. Trust me when I say my mom is good—she doesn’t need [money],” Weslie insisted, clearly fed up with the rumors.
What really seems to be breaking Weslie’s heart is how all this public drama might affect her little siblings as they grow up. “They’re gonna have to form their own opinion of who their dad was,” she pointed out, adding that in their home, they “only speak about him in such a beautiful light. I loved him. I have nothing negative to say about him.”
According to the publisher’s description, This Far: My Story of Love, Loss, and Embracing the Light
chronicles Holker’s journey from her early days as a teenage contestant on So You Think You Can Dance through her life with Stephen “tWitch” Boss. The memoir details their love story, shared career successes, and family life, before addressing the devastating impact of his death by suicide in December 2022. Holker opens up about navigating grief, supporting their three children, and discovering that beneath Boss’s infectious joy lay hidden struggles with addiction and self-doubt. The book aims to offer “hope and comfort for anyone experiencing grief—especially unexpected loss due to suicide,” while exploring what it means to move forward after unimaginable loss.