Yesterday, Ananda Lewis' sister Lakshmi Emory took to Facebook to confirm the beloved former MTV host has passed away at the age of 52. "She's free, and in His heavenly arms," Emory wrote. "Lord, rest her soul." TMZ Hip Hop reports that Lewis died while in hospice care at her Los Angeles home following a lengthy battle with breast cancer.
Lewis publicly revealed her diagnosis in 2020, admitting that she had avoided mammograms in the past and encouraging early testing. In October of 2024, she announced that her breast cancer had reached Stage 4 after she previously declined to get a mastectomy.
She's survived by her 14-year-old son, Langston, who graduated middle school today.
Lewis shared her last post on Instagram in February. "Prevention IS the cure 💕," she wrote at the time. "If you’re in a healthy body, you’re holding a winning lotto ticket. PLEASE learn how to avoid cancer. Because you still can. Love you💜."
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Ananda Lewis Career
Lewis graduated from Howard University in 1995 with a degree in history before becoming an MTV veejay two years later. After joining the network, she hosted Total Request Live and Hot Zone, which featured both music videos and interviews. Following the 1999 Columbine shooting, she also hosted specials about school violence. She additionally hosted a tribute program after Aaliyah's 2001 death.
That same year, Lewis launched The Ananda Lewis Show. She was then a correspondent on the Entertainment Tonight spin-off The Insider before deciding to pursue carpentry. Her fellow former MTV veejay Dave Holmes took to Instagram yesterday to share a heartfelt message about Lewis' passing.
"Well, this is awful. Ananda Lewis has died," he wrote in part. "She was the best: friendly funny kind clever cool committed passionate patient stylish and smart. If you were working with her, you knew you’d be having fun, and you’d want to step your game up to match her effortless charisma. You couldn’t, but the trying made you better."
