An influential figure from MTV’s heyday, former VJ and talk show host Ananda Lewis has died at 52. Once dubbed “the hip-hop generation’s reigning It Girl” by The New York Times, Lewis was a steadfast icon and a familiar face on the music network throughout the late ’90s.
Lewis leaves behind a son, Langston.
Best known for hosting MTV’s iconic Total Request Live and Hot Zone in the late ’90s, Lewis left the network in 2001 to launch her own daytime program, The Ananda Lewis Show.
Lewis’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 first rose to prominence as an MTV VJ in 1997, appearing on cornerstone shows like Total Request Live and the network’s daily Top 10 countdown. She quickly became one of MTV’s most recognizable faces, hosting several topical programs, including tributes to late singer Aaliyah and a special addressing the aftermath of the Columbine High School massacre.
That same year, she was honored with an NAACP Image Award for her impactful work as the host of BET’s Teen Summit. She would go on to win a second Image Award in 2001 for hosting the MTV special True Life: I Am Driving While Black.
In 2020, Lewis revealed on Instagram that she had been diagnosed with stage III breast cancer. She shared that she had avoided regular mammograms due to a fear of radiation.
In an article she wrote for the January/February 2025 edition of Essence, Lewis reflected on the importance of prioritizing one’s health. She revealed that, due to earlier decisions, “the cancer had gone wild in my body,” and it had progressed to stage IV.
“I encourage people to look at the information and studies that exist. Seek them out, learn from them and apply the changes to your life, so that you can continue to thrive and live as long as you can. As Black women, we have all kinds of factors we’re not even aware of that contribute to cancer impinging upon us. Increase your knowledge about how to prevent getting here in the first place. Prevention is the real cure.”