Former MTV VJ Ananda Lewis Dead At 52

Former MTV VJ Ananda Lewis has died at the age of 52 following a lengthy battle with breast cancer, her sister, Lakshmi Emory, confirmed in a post shared on her Facebook account.

"She’s free, and in His heavenly arms," she wrote with several broken heart emojis and a black and white photo of her sister. "Lord, rest her soul 🙏🏽."

Lewis joined MTV in 1997 and served as a host of several shows including Total Request Live and Hot Zone, having been dubbed by the New York Times as "the hip-hop generation's reigning It Girl" in 1999, before leaving the channel in 2001. The former veejay revealed that she was diagnosed with stage III breast cancer in a post shared on her Instagram account in 2020, claiming she hand't gotten regular mammograms due to her fear of radiation.

"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," Lewis wrote in the caption at the time. "🌸PRACTICE EARLY DETECTION🌸. Share this with a woman you love. These 6 minutes could help save her life. 😌I love you guys😌"

Lewis participated in a roundtable discussion with CNN's Stephanie Elam, her friend from college, and CNN anchor Sara Sidner in October 2024, revealing that she didn't have a double mastectomy despite being advised to do so and her tumor had metastasized, progressing to stage IV cancer.

“My plan at first was to get out excessive toxins in my body. I felt like my body is intelligent, I know that to be true. Our bodies are brilliantly made,” Lewis said. “I decided to keep my tumor and try to work it out of my body a different way. . . . I wish I could go back. It’s important for me to admit where I went wrong with this."