Former MTV VJ Ananda Lewis Dead at 52

Former MTV VJ Ananda Lewis has died at the age of 52 after losing her battle with breast cancer.

On Wednesday, Lewis’ sister Lakshmi announced her death, writing on Facebook, “She’s free, and in His heavenly arms. Lord, rest her soul 🙏🏽.”

In 2020, Lewis announced her stage 3 breast cancer diagnosis after she refused several mammograms over the years due to her fear of being exposed to radiation.

Along with a video, she wrote on Instagram, "This is tough for me, but if just ONE woman decides to get her mammogram after watching this, what I’m going through will be worth it."

Last year, Ananda revealed that she didn’t follow her doctor’s advice to get a double mastectomy after her diagnosis.

She told CNN’s Stephanie Elam, “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 expressed her regrets, saying, “I decided to keep my tumor and try to work it out of my body a different way. Looking back on that, I go, ‘You know what? Maybe I should have.’”

Just months ago, Ananda stressed the importance of prevention, calling it “the real cure” in an essay for Essence magazine.

As for life itself, Lewis wrote, “We’re not meant to stay here forever. We come to this life, have experiences — and then we go. Being real about that with yourself changes how you choose to live. 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.’”

In the late ’90s to early 2000s, Lewis was one of MTV’s well-known faces, hosting “Total Request Live” and “The Hot Zone.” She interviewed big names like Destiny’s Child, NSYNC, and Britney Spears.