Ananda Lewis, a former MTV VJ, has died after a battle with stage 4 breast cancer. She was 52.
Lewis’ sister, Lakshmi, shared the news of her death on Facebook, writing, “She’s free, and in His heavenly arms. Lord, rest her soul.” Lakshmi also told TMZ that Lewis died Wednesday morning at her home in Los Angeles after battling cancer for six years.
Born on March 21, 1973, in San Diego, Lewis later graduated from Howard University in 1995. She went on to pursue a career in entertainment, landing a job as the host of BET’s Teen Summit. She was later hired to be one of MTV’s VJs in 1997. She hosted shows, including Total Request Live and Hot Zone, before leaving the network in 2001 to host her own talk show, The Ananda Lewis Show.
In 1999, The New York Times called her “hip-hop generation’s reigning It Girl, meaning she is not just an MTV personality but a woman whose looks and attitude have made her perpetually in demand at clubs and parties.” Alongside her famous friends, including the late singer Aaliyah, Lewis was also a fashion trailblazer in the ’90s.
Throughout her career, she also hosted several other shows, such as Unexpected, While You Were Out, America’s Next Producer and High School Reunion. Lewis also worked as a correspondent for The Insider from 2004 to 2005.
In 2020, she revealed in an Instagram video that she had been diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer, noting at the time that she had not been getting mammograms done regularly due to radiation fears. “This is tough for me, but if just ONE woman decides to get her mammogram after watching this, what I’m going through will be worth it,” she wrote in the caption. “PRACTICE EARLY DETECTION.”
Several years later, she shared during a discussion with CNN’s Stephanie Elam and Sara Sidner in 2024 that she went against medical advice and didn’t undergo a double mastectomy following her breast cancer diagnosis. Her tumor then metastasized and her cancer progressed to stage 4.
In addition to her sister, Lewis is survived by her son.
