The former MTV VJ's sister Lakshmi announced news of her death in a Facebook post shared on Wednesday, June 11.
"She’s free, and in His heavenly arms," she wrote, alongside a series of broken heart emojis and a black and white portrait of Lewis. "Lord, rest her soul 🙏🏽"
Lewis became well known in 1997 when she was hired to be one of MTV’s VJs, hosting shows like Total Request Live and Hot Zone. In 1999, The New York Times dubbed her “the hip-hop generation's reigning It Girl.” She left MTV in 2001 to host her own talk show, The Ananda Lewis Show.
Lewis revealed in a 2020 Instagram post that she had been diagnosed with stage III breast cancer. She said that she had not been getting regular mammograms because of her fear of radiation. In October 2024, Lewis took part in a roundtable discussion with CNN’s Stephanie Elam (her friend from college) and CNN anchor Sara Sidner in which she revealed that she went against medical advice and did not have a double mastectomy after she was diagnosed. Her tumor had metastasized, and her cancer had progressed to stage IV, she shared.
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.”
In an essay she published in Essence in January, Lewis emphasized that "prevention is the real cure" for cancer, and urged women to pay attention to their bodies.
