Ananda Lewis, the beloved former MTV VJ, speak present host, and tireless advocate, has handed away. She was 52.
The information was confirmed by her sister Lakshmi, who shared a heartfelt Fb submit asserting her passing.
“She’s free, and in his heavenly arms,” she wrote with damaged coronary heart emojis. “Lord, relaxation her soul.”
Lakshmi has since confirmed the information to TMZ noting that Ananda died from stage 4 breast most cancers at 11:35 AM on Wednesday whereas in hospice at her Los Angeles house.
Lakshmi has since confirmed the information to TMZ noting that Ananda died from stage 4 breast most cancers at 11:35 AM on Wednesday whereas in hospice at her Los Angeles house.
Lewis was a defining voice of a technology throughout her time at MTV within the late ‘90s and early 2000s, the place she labored as a correspondent on Whole Request Dwell and MTV Information and lit up TV screens along with her smarts and signature allure that gave Black ladies hope for a shiny future.
RELATED CONTENT: Ananda Lewis Reveals She Has Stage IV Breast Most cancers
In 2001, she launched The Ananda Lewis Present, an empowering syndicated daytime speak present, and in recent times, she was a passionate advocate for breast most cancers consciousness, notably within the Black neighborhood, encouraging girls to prioritize early detection.
She shared her breast most cancers analysis in a 2020 Instagram submit, the place she defined her resolution to keep away from mammograms for years attributable to considerations about radiation publicity.
“For a very very long time, I’ve refused mammograms, and that was a mistake,” mentioned Lewis on the time. “I watched my mother get mammograms for nearly 30 years, and on the finish of that, she had breast most cancers, and I mentioned, ‘Huh? Radiation publicity for years equals breast most cancers. Yeah, I’m going to move. Thanks anyway.’”
“If I had achieved the mammograms from the time they have been really useful once I turned 40, they might’ve caught the tumor in my breast years earlier than I caught it by my very own self examination and thermography,” she continued. “And they might have caught it at a spot the place it was extra manageable. The place the remedy of it could have been a bit of simpler. It’s by no means simple, however I take advantage of that phrase compared to what I’m going by now. As a substitute, what I’m coping with is stage 3 breast most cancers that’s in my lymphs. I want you to get your mammograms.”
Supply: Gregg DeGuire
As beforehand reported, she later revealed that her breast most cancers had progressed to stage IV after initially selecting to not endure conventional remedies.
Recognized in 2019 with stage 3, Lewis opted out of a double mastectomy on the time, citing each private selection and restricted entry through the COVID-19 lockdowns.
“The circumstances weren’t conducive to surgical procedure as a result of my tumor wasn’t aggressively rising on the time, after which COVID hit,” she instructed The Epoch Instances in October. As a substitute, she pursued cryoablation remedy in Arizona, which helped shrink her tumor.
Lewis instructed the publication that she adopted a strict way of life, chopping out alcohol, white flour, and sugar, and spent practically $200,000 on numerous remedies, together with insulin potentiation remedy (IPT), which she credited as extremely efficient. “If I knew what I do know now, I’d’ve began with the IPT chemo instantly,” she mentioned earlier than noting that she had a community of “angels” who ensured she might proceed receiving care.
In 2023, her most cancers progressed to stage 4, spreading to her backbone, hips, and liver. Nonetheless, Lewis remained defiantly optimistic and deeply grounded in goal, particularly as a single mom to her son.
“I’ll have felt like I used to be dying in February, however I’m not dying, and I’m positively doing higher than I used to be final October,” she mentioned in one in every of her last interviews. “I feel I’ll do higher than 5 years. I’m not dying anytime quickly. I plan to get a very good 20 extra years out of this physique.”
Lewis is survived by her 14-year-old son, who Ananda’s sister mentioned graduated as we speak from center college.
R.I.P. Ananda Lewis.
RELATED CONTENT: “I Didn’t Really feel Regular At All”: Ananda Lewis Explains Why She Left Behind A Speak Present And TV Success To Be A “Loner”
