Ananda Lewis, a renowned MTV personality who presented series like Total Request Live in the late 1990s, went on to host her own daytime talk show, and then candidly about her journey with breast cancer, has died, according to her sister’s Facebook post on Wednesday. She was 52.
“She’s free, and in His heavenly arms,” said her sister Lakshmi Emory in a post. “Lord, rest her soul.”
No cause of death was disclosed, however Lewis had been open about being diagnosed with breast cancer in 2018. She announced the news in 2020, adding that she was doing so in the hopes of helping others.
“For a really long time, I have refused mammograms, and that was a mistake,” Lewis stated at the time. “I watched my mother receive mammograms for almost 30 years, and at the end of it, she had breast cancer, and I thought, ‘Huh. Long-term radiation exposure leads to breast cancer. Yeah, I am going to pass. “Thank you anyway.”
Lewis claimed she discovered the tumor during a self-exam of her breasts and regretted not catching it sooner.
“I need you to get your mammograms,” she told fans.
At the time, Lewis stated that she needed to be present for her nine-year-old son.
“I have no intention of leaving him,” she stated. “I do not want to leave any of my children. I don’t want to leave my friends and family. Hell, I do not want to abandon myself. I like being here. So, listen, this is not how it was supposed to happen, but I’m just going to be honest with you, like I usually do.”
Lewis was born in Los Angeles and graduated from Howard University in 1995. She was then hired to host BET’s Teen Summit, where she explored issues vital to youth and interviewed figures such as first lady Hillary Clinton.
“That experience got me noticed at MTV,” she told teenagers, “and in August of 1997, I moved to New York and started working there.”
In 1999, the New York Times called her “the hip-hop generation’s reigning it Girl” in a profile.
Lewis departed MTV in 2001 to host her own talk show, The Ananda Lewis Show, which ran for a single season.
In 2004, she appeared on the reality show Celebrity Mole: Yucatán, which also featured Keshia Knight Pulliam, Dennis Rodman, and Stephen Baldwin.
Following that, she hosted other shows, including the Entertainment Tonight spin-off The Insider, A&E’s America’s Top Dog, and TLC’s While You Were Out.
The TV personality also continued to document her battle with cancer. She lamented declining a doctor’s recommendation to have a double mastectomy after receiving her diagnosis during a CNN round-table discussion about breast cancer in October. She then stated that the cancer was in stage IV.
In a January Essence essay about the significance of prevention, she discussed her philosophy on the end of life.
“We aren’t supposed to stay here forever. “We come into this life, have experiences, and then we leave,” she remarked. “Being honest with yourself transforms the way you choose to live. I do not want to suffer for any longer than necessary. That is not a quality of life that interests me. When it’s time for me to depart, I want to be able to look back on my life and say, “I did everything exactly how I wanted.” We all have that right. I know I did the right thing for myself. It may not be the best thing for anyone else, but it doesn’t have to be.”
Following her death, MTV’s official Instagram account issued the following statement: “We are devastated to learn of the passing of beloved MTV VJ, Ananda Lewis. Ananda’s on-air presenting and interviews inspired a new generation of music aficionados. “Our thoughts are with her family and loved ones.”
