Trailblazing MTV Host Dead Aged 52 After Agonizing Breast Cancer Fight — Following Her Refusal to Have Double Mastectomy
Lewis was lauded by her former boss for her talent in live TV.
June 12 2025, Published 8:33 a.m. ET
Former MTV host Ananda Lewis has died aged 52 following a long battle with breast cancer.
RadarOnline.com can reveal the presenter was diagnosed in 2020 and four years later went against medical advice by refusing to have a double mastectomy, after her condition reached stage four.
Double Mastectomy Refusal
Lewis previously admitted she regretted not having a double mastectomy.
At the time she said her plan was to remove "excessive toxins" out of her body but later admitted she had made a mistake.
Announcing her death on Facebook, her devastated sister Lakshmi wrote: "She's free and in his heavenly arms. Lord, rest her soul."
Lewis had been open about her career battle throughout her illness.
Admitting she made an error by turning down a double mastectomy, she said: "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.
"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."
She also encouraged her fans to be up to date on their mammograms after revealing she had not gotten hers leading up to her diagnosis.
'Hip-Hop Generation's It Girl'
Lewis was considered one of MTV's hottest stars in the Nineties.
Lewis rose to fame in the late 90s when she landed a role as one of MTV's VJ's where she hosted the likes of Total Request Live and Hot Zone.
In 1999, The New York Times described her as "the hip-hop generation's reigning It Girl."
She left MTV in 2001 to host her own talk show, The Ananda Lewis Show.
The TV star was born in Los Angeles in 1973. Her parents divorced when she was just two, an experience she said affected her relationship with her mum as an adult.
Following the divorce, she and her sister moved in with their grandparents where Lewis went on to attend an arts high school.
Lewis interviewed top Hollywood stars during her stint at MTV.
After graduating Howard University in 1995 she landed her first job as the host of BET's Teen Summit during which time she interviewed then First Lady Hillary Clinton.
Lewis maintained her passion for advocacy throughout her career.
While at MTV, she moderated forums on school violence after the Columbine school shooting and hosted MTV’s news special True Life: I Am Driving While Black in 1999.
Lewis grew to be one of MTV's most popular hosts – interviewing some of Hollywood's biggest stars.
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Since her MTV days, Lewis served as a correspondent on CBS’s The Insider.
Bob Kusbit, then MTV's senior vice president for production, said: "In the past, our talent was sometimes just pretty people who could read cue cards.
"But when we brought Ananda to MTV, we decided we were going to do a lot more live television, and I was first and foremost interested in her ability to do live TV.'"
Since her MTV days, Lewis served as a correspondent on CBS’s The Insider and made guest appearances on various TV shows including Celebrity Mole: Yucatán and America's Top Dog.
