, a former MTV VJ who connected a generation of music fans to their favorite celebrities on the music network, has died. She was 52.
The news was confirmed by her sister Lakshmi Emory, who posted a . No further details were available.
CNN has reached out to representatives for Lewis for further comment.
Lewis had been living with breast cancer in recent years, recently about her treatment. She first shared in 2020 that she was diagnosed with stage III breast cancer after she conducted a self exam.
Ananda Lewis, seen here during the 2005 MTV Movie Awards in Los Angeles, has died.
In her announcement at the time, she encouraged her followers to be up to date on their mammograms after revealing that she had been delayed in getting hers leading up to her diagnosis.
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鈥淚 need you to share this with the women in your life who may be as stubborn as I was about mammograms and I need you to tell them that they have to do it,鈥 Lewis said in her . 鈥淓arly detection, especially for breast cancer, changes your outcome. It can save their life.鈥
Lewis revealed in October of last year that her cancer had progressed to stage IV.
Around that time, she with CNN correspondents Stephanie Elam and Sara Sidner聽鈥 who in 2024 was also with breast cancer 鈥 to discuss their health journeys.
During their conversation, Lewis opened up to Sidner and Elam 鈥 who Lewis met during their freshman year at Howard University and who she counted as a best friend 鈥 about the course of treatment she chose.
鈥淭his journey is very personal and you have to do what works for you and only you,鈥 Lewis told Elam and Sidner.
The MTV VJ era
Lewis was a fixture on MTV鈥檚 programming during part of the network鈥檚 lineup in the 鈥90s, appearing on 鈥淢TV Live鈥 as host, among other titles.
She also had her own talk show, 鈥淭he Ananda Lewis Show,鈥 from 2001 to 2002, hosting over 250 episodes.
Lewis was into the arts at an early age as a student at the San Diego School of Creative and Performing Arts where she studied theater, music, photography and dance for nine years, according to a .
She went on to attend Howard University in Washington DC, where she spent time as a youth activist, working for the Youth Leadership and Development Institute (YLDI) as a trainer working with teenagers in a program called 鈥淵outh at Risk.鈥
Lewis鈥 experience at the YLDI is what inspired her to audition for BET鈥檚 鈥淭een Summit鈥 series, a program on which she served as the host.
鈥淭he kids in my program were like, 鈥榶ou have to go for that audition because you always tell us that life brings you great opportunities and it鈥檚 your job to step up. Now you鈥檙e not going to step up?鈥欌 Lewis BET in 2022. 鈥淭hey were calling me a hypocrite. I鈥檓 grateful that I went and listened.鈥
Lewis hosted 鈥淭een Summit鈥 鈥 a series that focused on social issues affecting young Black Americans 鈥 for three seasons. With a co-host, she interviewed public figures from basketball legend Kobe Bryant to Hillary Clinton.
Following the success and notoriety that Lewis achieved from 鈥淭een Summit,鈥 she took on a new job as a host and 鈥渧ideo jockey鈥 at MTV in 1997. Lewis rose to fame hosting 鈥淭otal Request Live鈥 and 鈥淗ot Zone鈥 on the network in its heyday.
Lewis maintained her passion for advocacy throughout her career. While at MTV, she moderated forums on school violence after the Columbine school shooting and hosted MTV鈥檚 news special 鈥淭rue Life: I Am Driving While Black鈥 in 1999.
Since then, Lewis served as a correspondent on CBS鈥檚 鈥淭he Insider鈥 and made guest appearances on TV shows such as 鈥淐elebrity Mole: Yucat谩n鈥 and 鈥淎merica鈥檚 Top Dog.鈥
Toward the , Lewis discussed her approach to joy in life, while living with cancer.
鈥淭he cancer diagnosis caused me to change things in my life I never would have changed otherwise, that I needed to change but would not change,鈥 she said. 鈥淎nd those changes have allowed me access to more of my joy, more of the time.鈥
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