Ananda Lewis, once a popular MTV Video Jockey, has passed away at the age of 52. Her dear sister Lakshmi announced the news on Facebook, expressing that “She is now free and embraced by His heavenly care.” Following her diagnosis with breast cancer in 2020, Lewis initially pursued alternative treatments to manage the disease.
Lewis commenced her career at MTV in 1997, where she hosted various shows such as “Total Request Live” and “Hot Zone”. Additionally, she anchored news programs for the network, including one addressing violence following Columbine. As stated by Bob Kusbit, MTV’s senior vice president for production, to the New York Times, “our talent was previously just attractive individuals who could read scripts, but when we brought Ananda to MTV, we decided to produce a lot more live television.” She received an NAACP Image Award for her work on “True Life: I Am Driving While Black”. In 2001, Lewis departed from MTV to host the syndicated talk show “The Ananda Lewis Show”.
In 2020, Lewis was diagnosed with stage III breast cancer. During a CNN discussion in 2024, she expressed regrets about her choice to forego a double mastectomy against medical advice. Initially, her intention was to remove harmful substances from her body, but instead of having the surgery, she opted to keep the tumor and try an alternative method for removal. “If I could turn back the hands of time,” she said, “I wish I had made a different choice.” She emphasized the importance of preventive care in an essay published in Essence, stating that life is temporary and we should strive to minimize unnecessary suffering. “When my time comes,” she wrote, “I want to look back on my life with no regrets, knowing that I lived it as I intended to.
Read More
2025-06-12 05:53