Remembering Ananda Lewis: Beloved BET and MTV Host Dies at 52

Ananda Lewis, the beloved media personality who rose to fame as a host on both BET and MTV before launching her own talk show, has passed at age 52 after a lengthy battle with breast cancer. After going public with her diagnosis, Lewis became outspoken about her health battle and advocated for preventive measures and awareness. It was indicative of her lifelong commitment to serving her community.

Lewis was diagnosed with ER/PR positive, HER2-negative breast cancer at Stage 3 in 2019. In 2024, she revealed in an interview with CNN’s Sara Snider that her cancer had progressed to Stage 4.

“We’re not meant to stay here forever,” she explained in a Feb. 2025 ESSENCE story about her journey. “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.’ We all have that right. I know I’ve done the right thing for me. It might not be the right thing for anybody else, but it doesn’t have to be. “

In what would be her final post on Instagram, Lewis was advocating for awareness and urging people to learn preventive measures to avoid cancer.

“Prevention IS the cure,” she posted in February. “If you’re in a healthy body, you’re holding a winning lotto ticket. PLEASE learn how to avoid cancer. Because you still can. Love you💜.”

For a generation that came of age with her on their screens, Ananda Lewis will always epitomize intelligence, professionalism and passion, fierceness and fun. She was a fighter and was committed to making a difference — whether it was talking to young people on Teen Summitin her youth, or advocating for breast cancer awareness in her later years.

R.I.P.