Ananda Lewis, former MTV and BET host who publicly shared breast cancer journey, dies

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Ananda Lewis, the former MTV and BET host who became a beloved television personality in the 1990s with her warmth and authenticity, has died. She was 52.

Her sister, Lakshmi Emory, confirmed Lewis' death in a Facebook post Wednesday. Lewis had been battling breast cancer.

“She’s free, and in His heavenly arms,” Emory wrote. “Lord, rest her soul.”

Lewis, a San Diego native, made a name for herself as a host on BET's “Teen Summit,” which tackled issues facing Black youth and featured community leaders, entertainers and politicians. She landed big interviews with Kobe Bryant, Tupac Shakur and Louis Farrakhan and then-first lady Hillary Clinton, which earned her an NAACP Image Award.

After a few seasons, Lewis took her talents over to MTV in 1997. She was a host and veejay on “MTV Live.” “Hot Zone” and “Total Request Live," a daily top 10 video countdown show.

Lewis told The Associated Press that she felt some backlash after moving from BET to MTV.

“I wouldn't say in a strong way because I think most people who were in my fan base at ‘Teen Summit’ understand that growth is necessary,” she said. “One of the main things we dealt with on a consistent basis, like the underlying theme of all the shows is you've got to get out there and live your life. The bottom line is this is about you, so how do you want to grow and whom do you want to develop into? My justification is that I say to kids: ‘be your best and take advantage of every opportunity,’ so I couldn't sit in a place of not taking advantage of an opportunity."

In 2001, Lewis told the AP that she wasn't trying to reinvent daytime talk with her new syndicated series, “The Ananda Lewis Show.”

“There’s only so much different you can do in daytime, which is what I’m learning. There’s a certain way, I guess, people are used to doing things and that way’s not going to change for a while,” she said. “I think there’s a formula, and some cases have proven that formula works. So the objective isn’t to reinvent the wheel but to make it spin a little more smoothly.”

Lewis' show lasted only one season. But a few years later, she became a correspondent for “The Insider,” a spinoff of "Entertainment Tonight."

Lewis was open about her cancer journey since she publicly shared her diagnosis in 2020. At that time, the disease was initially stage 3 before it advanced to stage 4 last year. She had been living with breast cancer for six years.

Lewis said doctors recommended a double mastectomy, but she opted for alternative methods. She eventually realized that was the wrong measure, becoming an advocate for being up-to-date with mammogram checkups.

“I need you to share this with the women in your life who may be as stubborn as I was about mammograms, and I need you to tell them that they have to do it,” Lewis said in her announcement. “Early detection, especially for breast cancer, changes your outcome. It can save their life.”