Ananda Lewis, former MTV VJ and talk show host, has died after a 5-year battle with breast cancer. Ananda died peacefully at her Los Angeles home on Wednesday morning. She was 52.
Lakshmi Emory shared the news of her sister’s death Wednesday in a Facebook post. “She’s free, and in His heavenly arms,” Lakshmi wrote alongside a photo of her sister. “Lord, rest her soul [prayer emoji].”
Ananda announced her cancer diagnosis in a 2020 Instagram post. She said she found out she had breast cancer after refusing mammograms for years due to fear of radiation exposure.
In a discussion with CNN‘s Stephanie Elam and CNN anchor Sara Sidner — who was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2024, Ananda said she refused her doctors’ recommendation for a double mastectomy.
“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,” Ananda explained.
“I decided to keep my tumor and try to work it out of my body a different way,” she added. “Looking back on that, I go, ‘You know what? Maybe I should have.'”
In 2024, Ananda discovered her cancer had spread to her lymph nodes and she was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer.
“My lymph system really flared up,” Ananda said. “It was the first time I ever had a conversation with death because I felt like: This is how it is.”
She continued: “I was just like, ‘Fudge man, I really thought I had this.’ I was frustrated, I was a little angry at myself, and I said, ‘Man, listen. I know you’re coming for me at some point. But I don’t want it to be now. And if you could just wait, I promise when you do come, I’m gonna make it fun for you.'”
Ananda (pictured with MC Lyte) hosted BET’s “Teen Summit” in the early 1990s before she was hired as one of MTV’s first video jockeys. She was an immediate hit with MTV network’s young viewers.
She left MTV in 2001 to pursue her own talk show, “The Ananda Lewis Show,” which aired from 2001 to 2002.
Ananda also hosted “The Insider,” and “While You Were Out,” a TLC reality series.
She was abstinent for most of the late 1990s. In 2011, Ananda gave birth to son Langston with Harry Smith.
