Ananda Lewis has died. As a TV host for BET—where she helmed youth-oriented talk show Teen Summit for several years—and then MTV, Lewis was a mainstay of music television in the late ’90s and early 2000s. Hosting episodes of Total Request Live, MTV Live, Hot Zone, and serving as one of the network’s general-purpose VJs, Lewis was a key part of MTV’s identity at the turn of the century, often serving as the face of its more socially conscious efforts to connect with young viewers. Lewis departed MTV in 2001, creating her own talk show, The Ananda Lewis Show, which aired in syndication for a single season; she continued to make regular appearances on TV throughout the rest of her life. Per THR, her death comes after a six-year battle with cancer. Lewis was 52.
Originally from L.A., Lewis was a recent college graduate in 1996, volunteering with at-risk youth when she learned that BET was searching for a new host for Teen Summit. A former beauty pageant winner, Lewis apparently nailed the audition: Her subsequent work on Teen Summit would see her be lauded by the NAACP, interview First Lady Hilary Clinton, and become one of the faces of youth-aimed television in the 1990s. MTV certainly took notice: The competing network offered Lewis a job shortly after she took home her (first) Image Award, an offer she ultimately accepted. In addition to hosting video shows at her new gig, Lewis was frequently tapped to host specials touching on darker topics: The network had her host a special about the Columbine shootings, and she took lead on the network’s tribute to her friend Aaliyah after the singer’s death in 2001.
Lewis’ rising star, and status as a TV and fashion icon, saw her branch even further out as the century ticked over: At just 28, she was soon out at MTV, and instead creating and hosting The Ananda Lewis Show, which ran for a full year before ultimately folding. After that, Lewis would spend the rest of her life doing the work of a sort of journeyman TV presenter: She worked on Entertainment Tonight spin-off The Insider, for instance, while also continuing to pop up from time to time on both of her old music network haunts. (She also took a multi-year break from TV from roughly 2010 to 2018; per Variety, she spent at least part of that time working in the world of carpentry.) In 2020 (after returning to hosting, appearing on shows like Unexpected and While You Were Out), Lewis announced that she’d been diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer; in 2024, she revealed that the disease had advanced to stage 4. Lewis’ death on Wednesday, in her Los Angeles home, was confirmed by her sister, Lakshmi Emory.
