Ananda Lewis, former MTV VJ, dead at 52

Originally appeared on E! Online

The MTV community is mourning a tragic loss.

Ananda Lewis, a former VJ on MTV shows like "Total Request Live" and "Hot Zone," has died, according to her sister Lakshmi Emory. She was 52.

“She’s free, and in His heavenly arms,” Emory wrote in a June 11 Facebook post. “Lord, rest her soul.”

A cause of death has not been disclosed.

Prior to her passing, Lewis had been battling breast cancer, which she first revealed in a 2020 Instagram post after being diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer.

Four years later, the former TV host shared that she had opted to not have a double mastectomy and had instead decided to “keep my tumor and try to work it out of my body a different way.”

“My plan at first was to get out excessive toxins in my body,” Lewis said in an October 2024 interview on CNN. “I felt like my body is intelligent, I know that to be true. Our bodies are brilliantly made.”

PHOTOS Celebrity Deaths: 2025's Fallen Stars

Reflecting on her treatment path, she emphasized her regret. “I wish I could go back,” she continued. “It’s important for me to admit where I went wrong with this.”

Lewis also revealed that her tumor had metastasized and that her cancer had reached stage 4, which later prompted her to reflect on her life.

"We're not meant to stay here forever,” she wrote in an essay published in Essence in January. “We come to this life, have experiences — and then we go. Being real about that with yourself changes how you choose to live.”

Encouraging others to recognize that "prevention is the real cure" for cancer, she added, “I don't want to spend one more minute than I have to suffering unnecessarily. That, for me, is not the quality of life I'm interested in. When it's time for me to go, I want to be able to look back on my life and say, 'I did that exactly how I wanted to.'"

Lewis is survived by her son Langston, 14, whom she shared with Will Smith’s brother Harry Smith.