What Happened to Ananda Lewis? Former MTV VJ Passes Away

Ananda Lewis, the former MTV VJ and talk show host, has died at the age of 52, with news of her death confirmed by her sister on June 11, 2025. Known for her influential presence on television in the late 1990s and early 2000s, Lewis connected millions of viewers to music, culture, and social issues through her work on MTV and BET.

Here’s what we know so far about Ananda Lewis’s death.

Ananda Lewis dead at 52, claims report

Ananda Lewis, former MTV VJ and talk show host, has died at the age of 52. Her sister, Lakshmi Emory, confirmed the news in a Facebook post on June 11, stating, “She’s free, and in His heavenly arms.” No additional details regarding the cause of death have been provided.

Lewis gained prominence in 1997 when she joined MTV, where she hosted Total Request Live and Hot Zone. In 1999, The New York Times called her “the hip-hop generation’s reigning It Girl.” In 2001, she left MTV to lead The Ananda Lewis Show, which aired over 250 episodes before ending after one season.

In 2020, Lewis revealed she had been diagnosed with stage III breast cancer after delaying mammograms. “I need you to share this with the women in your life who may be as stubborn as I was about mammograms,” she said in an Instagram video. In 2024, Lewis shared that her cancer had progressed to stage IV. “I wish I could go back,” she said in a roundtable with CNN anchors Sara Sidner and Stephanie Elam.

Ananda Lewis was born in Los Angeles in 1973 and raised in San Diego by her mother and grandmother. She graduated from Howard University in 1995. Soon after, she began hosting BET’s Teen Summit, where she interviewed Hillary Clinton and Kobe Bryant. She joined MTV later that year.

Lewis also worked as a carpenter and contractor. She appeared on The Insider, Celebrity Mole: Yucatán, and America’s Top Dog. She promoted health awareness and wrote in Essence, “Prevention is the real cure.”

Her son, Langston, survives her. She shared him with Harry Smith, brother of Will Smith.

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