Stephen ‘tWitch’ Boss ‘Felt Silenced’ in Allison Holker Marriage, His Brother Dre Rose Claims: ‘He Couldn’t Get It Out’

Stephen “tWitch” Boss‘s mom, Connie Boss Alexander, and his brother, Dre Rose, are speaking out.

On Tuesday, Feb. 11, the mother-son duo appeared on CBS Mornings to address a few claims made in the memoir of the late dancer’s widow, Allison Holker — namely how she allegedly found drugs inside his closet after his death in December 2022, as well as the family’s experience following the tragedy.

When asked by Gayle King specifically about the drug claims, Dre said there’s a “possibility” that his brother was having problems that only his wife knew about, but in the same vein, he said, “There are things that she knows that we didn’t know. But know that there are things about him that she didn’t know.”

Dre, who worked with Stephen, said his brother would often confide in him about struggling with issues like imposter syndrome and together, they would devise ways to tackle his insecurities. Those kinds of conversations were difficult for Stephen to have with Holker, Dre said.

“So in my opinion, [from] our conversations that he had with me, he felt silenced. He couldn’t get it out.”

King asked, “He felt silenced in his own home?” and Dre continued, “Yes, often. Often. And he loved his wife, he loved his kids. He would definitely give them his last. But in any situation in which you can’t have a conversation and get resolve, it becomes one-sided.”

“And I believe, cause you asked about their relationship, I can say that there’s many conversations that there’s no resolve. But he would always say to me, ‘This is life. The lights are on.’”

In Holker’s memoir, This Far: My Story of Love, Loss, and Embracing the Light, which was released on Feb. 4, she detailed some of her husband’s private journal entries and also revealed his history with sexual abuse as a child — another revelation that shocked his family.

“That was new,” Dre told King. “It was a shock to me, 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 happened of that nature.”

In January, Holker opened up about her memoir to PEOPLE and revealed that the book would detail her upbringing, love story with Stephen and healing two-year journey with their kids after his death by suicide in December 2022.

Weeks after the Ellen DeGeneres Show co-executive producer and longtime deejay died at age 40, Holker told PEOPLE that she uncovered a “cornucopia” of drugs — including mushrooms, pills and “other substances I had to look up on my phone” — hidden inside his shoeboxes.

“I was with one of my really dear friends, and we were cleaning out the closet and picking out an outfit for him for the funeral,” she recalled. “It was a really triggering moment for me because there were a lot of things I discovered in our closet that I did not know existed. It was very alarming to me to learn that there was so much happening that I had no clue [about].”

Though she said the experience was a “really scary moment in my life to figure that out,” she added that the discovery helped her “process that he was going through so much and he was hiding so much, and there must have been a lot of shame in that.”

Holker also said she combed through Stephen’s journals looking for answers and closure, when she learned that her husband had been keeping painful secrets from those closest to him.

“He was wrestling with a lot inside himself, and he was trying to self-medicate and cope with all those feelings because he didn’t want to put it on anyone because he loved everyone so much,” she said, revealing that the dancer alluded to being sexually abused by a male figure during his childhood in several of his journal entries. “He didn’t want other people to take on his pain.”

Though she initially felt betrayed by the secrecy, the choreographer said that she’s gained a new outlook and opened up about how she found empathy and understanding.

“It was really hard to put all the pieces together. Through certain discussions, even with friends and things that have been said, reading through his journals … you realize he went through a lot as a child and never faced it,” she continued. “It’s hard to think that he never opened up to someone and wanted to face it, to get through on the other side. I really hope people dealing with the same thing will help themselves out of the shadows and [know] you’re going to be okay.”

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After speaking out about the book, Holker faced backlash online from Stephen’s fans and loved ones. She later addressed the criticism, writing on social media: “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. 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,” she added. “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 maybe they catch some [of] the red flags that I missed before it’s too late.”

The dancer’s brother said on CBS Mornings that he saw “no accountability” in the statement she released. “I see no accountability in the fact that the family had to find out about these things in the matter that they did. And if that is what you want to convey or share to the public, bringing up someone’s journal entries, that’s not how you expose it. It could have been, ‘Hey this is my experience and I want to let people know what to look for.’ But to use my brother’s name and to make it seem like he had this serious addiction problem and this sexual abuse allegation — that could have been true — but that, I don’t think that’s the reason why my brother isn’t here today.”

Holker has since shared that she will donate all the proceeds from the book “to fund the mental health-focused foundation I started in Stephen’s honor, Move with Kindness.”

“My hope is that we don’t need to lose another husband, brother, father or friend to suicide,” she concluded. “I believe that if Stephen were able to choose, he would choose to have his story told if it meant saving even one life. Much love to all those who supported our family these many years.”

If you or someone you know is considering suicide, please contact the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by dialing 988, text “STRENGTH” to the Crisis Text Line at 741741 or go to 988lifeline.org.