• Posted June 13, 2025

Former MTV Host Ananda Lewis Dies at 52 After Breast Cancer Battle

FRIDAY, June 13, 2025 (HealthDay News) — Ananda Lewis, a former MTV host and TV personality, is dead at 52.

Her friend Lakshmi Emory shared the news in a June 11 Facebook post. “She’s free, and in His heavenly arms,” Emory wrote, alongside a black-and-white photo of Lewis. 

“Lord, rest her soul.”

She did not say what caused Lewis’ death, NBC News reported.

Lewis was a well-known VJ on MTV in the late 1990s and early 2000s. She hosted popular shows like "Total Request Live" and "Hot Zone," and launched "The Ananda Lewis Show" in 2001.

In 2019, Lewis was diagnosed with Stage 3 breast cancer. She later shared that she chose not to have the double mastectomy her doctors recommended.

Instead, she turned to alternative therapies. In a January 2025 essay for Essence, Lewis said she had tried treatments like cutting sugar and alcohol from her diet, monthly ultrasounds, high-dose vitamin C IVs, qigong exercises and hyperbaric chamber sessions.

When her tumor began growing during the COVID-19 pandemic, she started genetically targeted fractionated chemotherapy. This type of chemotherapy is designed to kill cancer cells while sparing healthy ones, according to the Cleveland Clinic.

Despite these efforts, an October 2023 scan showed that her cancer had progressed to Stage 4. She then decided to undergo treatment at an integrative care facility, NBC News said.

In her final published essay, Lewis reflected on the choices she made. She previously said she regretted not getting mammograms out of fear of radiation exposure, and she urged other women to stay informed.

“Going into 2025, I would say to women: Do everything in your power to avoid my story becoming yours. If I had known what I know now 10 years ago, perhaps I wouldn’t have ended up here," Lewis wrote in the Essence piece.

“I encourage people to look at the information and studies that exist. Seek them out, learn from them and apply the changes to your life, so that you can continue to thrive and live as long as you can," she added.

More information

The American Cancer Society has more on breast cancer.

SOURCE: NBC News, June 11, 2025