Latest news with #AnandaLewis
Yahoo
27-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Ananda Lewis, Celebrated MTV VJ, Dead at 52
Ananda Lewis, a former MTV VJ during the late Nineties and who shared her breast cancer journey with fans, has died at the age of 52. Lewis' death was confirmed today in a Facebook post by her sister, Lakshmi Emory. Lewis revealed in 2020 that she had been diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer. In her video announcement at the time, she urged women to practice early detection and to get mammograms. More from Rolling Stone Brian Wilson, Beach Boys Co-Founder and Architect of Pop, Dead at 82 Questlove, Clairo, Earthgang, and More Remember Sly Stone: He 'Was a Giant' Billy Jones, Baby's All Right Owner and Key Player in New York Music Scene, Dead at 45 '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 2020 Instagram post. 'Early detection, especially for breast cancer, changes your outcome. It can save their life.' Lewis was hired by MTV in 1997 as one of their video jockeys, and she would go on to host the shows Total Request Live and Hot Zone. In 2001 she started her own talk show, The Ananda Lewis Show, which ran from 2001 to 2002. Lewis would later join The Insider, an Entertainment Tonight spinoff as a correspondent from 2004 to 2005. During the revival of TLC's While You Were Out in 2019, Lewis returned as the show's host. Last October, Lewis said that her cancer had progressed to stage 4. During a discussion with CNN's correspondents Stephanie Elam and Sarah Sidner, who was also diagnosed with breast cancer in 2024, Lewis opened up about her treatment path. 'This journey is very personal and you have to do what works for you and only you,' she said. Her fellow former MTV VJ Dave Holmes remembered Lewis on social media following news of her death. 'She was the best: friendly funny kind clever cool committed passionate patient stylish and smart. If you were working with her, you knew you'd be having fun, and you'd want to step your game up to match her effortless charisma. You couldn't, but the trying made you better,' he wrote in an Instagram post alongside a photo of Lewis and the song 'Someday We'll Know' by the New Radicals. 'We bonded over our shared love of this song, it has reminded me of her ever since, and now it always will.' Best of Rolling Stone The 50 Best 'Saturday Night Live' Characters of All Time Denzel Washington's Movies Ranked, From Worst to Best 70 Greatest Comedies of the 21st Century
Bloomberg
19-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Bloomberg
MTV's Ananda Lewis Brought Journalism to a New Generation
Through her work on the network's show 'TRL' and BET's 'Teen Summit,' she stirred a passion for current events among young audiences — which is sorely lacking today. Save Ananda Lewis' death hits a little differently. It was hard to determine why at first. The online reaction to her passing began with the typical outpouring of 'RIP' and remarks about her work as the veejay and host of seminal '90s and early aughts pop culture series, such as BET's Teen Summit and MTV's Total Request Live. Then the feeling came into sharper focus: She stirred a passion for journalism and current events among her young audiences — and that's sorely lacking today.
The Independent
17-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
Katie Thurston reflects on Bachelorette co-star Ananda Lewis' death amid own cancer battle
Former "Bachelorette" star Katie Thurston shared that Ananda Lewis's death impacted her own experience with breast cancer, acknowledging she had been "spiralling for a day" after the news. Thurston was diagnosed with stage three breast cancer in mid-February, which was later revised to stage four after it metastasized to her liver. Thurston revealed earlier this month that she is experiencing memory loss amid her cancer treatment, recalling an incident at the airport where she couldn't remember where she was traveling from. Ananda Lewis, former MTV VJ and talk show host, passed away at 52, eight months after her breast cancer progressed to stage four. Lewis revealed her breast cancer diagnosis in 2020 and admitted she initially refused a double mastectomy, opting instead to try to remove toxins from her body, a decision she later questioned.
American Military News
16-06-2025
- Entertainment
- American Military News
Former MTV VJ Ananda Lewis dies after battle with breast cancer
Ananda Lewis, former MTV video jockey and television show host, has died at 52 after a years-long battle with breast cancer. Lewis rose to fame on BET's 'Teen Summit' and hosted 'The Ananda Lewis Show' in the early aughts, before being diagnosed with breast cancer in 2019. Her sister, Lakshmi Emory, broke the news of Lewis' death in a Facebook post, writing, '[S]he's free and in His heavenly arms. Lord rest her soul.' Emory told TMZ that Lewis died Wednesday morning from Stage 4 breast cancer while in hospice care at her Los Angeles home. Lewis grew up in San Diego and graduated from Howard University in 1995. She began her entertainment career as the host of 'Teen Summit,' where she discussed issues affecting teenagers and interviewed then-first lady Hillary Clinton. MTV then hired her to be a VJ in 1997 and she quickly gained popularity hosting shows such as 'Total Request Live' and 'Hot Zone.' In 1999, the New York Times called her 'the hip-hop generation's reigning It Girl.' She left the network in 2001 to host her own talk show and later worked as a correspondent for entertainment news show 'The Insider.' She revealed her cancer diagnosis in a 2020 Instagram post, saying that she had not been getting mammograms due to her fears around radiation and urging her follows to make sure they are staying on top of their breast exams. 'This is tough for me, but if just ONE woman decides to get her mammogram after watching this, what I'm going through will be worth it,' she said. She spoke at length about her battle with the disease in a 2024 roundtable discussion with CNN correspondents Stephanie Elam, who was one of her close friends, and Sara Sidner, a breast cancer survivor. Lewis described first discovering a lump in her breast in 2019 and said that, although doctors recommended a double mastectomy at the time, she opted to pursue alternative therapies and focus on cleansing her body of toxins and emotional stress. She later relocated to Arizona, where she combined holistic and conventional treatments through approaches such as insulin-potentiation chemotherapy — where patients take lower chemotherapy doses because of a theory that insulin lets more of the drug enter cells. She said she encountered financial difficulties that made it challenging to keep up with her holistic regimen of treatment. By October 2023, her scans showed that the cancer had metastasized in her spine, through her hips and into her lymph nodes. During the roundtable, Lewis highlighted the fact that Black women are at a disproportionately high risk of dying from breast cancer, attributing that, in part, to a mistrust of the medical system. 'Our inability to be comfortable with doctors goes way back,' she said. 'We have a rightful distrust of the medical industry that we need to get over, but we are not going to negate that it came from somewhere and that it's real.' Although Black women and white women are affected by breast cancer at similar rates, Black women are around 40% more likely to die from the disease, according to data compiled by the American Cancer Society. ___ © 2025 Los Angeles Times. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Yahoo
15-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Teyana Taylor praises Aaron Pierre's passion for her new album, ‘Escape Room'
Key Takeaways: Trending A deep dive into Will Smith's 'Just the Two of Us' and its lasting legacy 14 songs to add to your Father's Day playlist Ananda Lewis' sister shares that her dying wish was to see her son graduate: 'She did exactly that' Teyana Taylor's new project, Escape Room, blends music and film into a visual album experience. Aaron Pierre was 'hands-on' with the project, earning praise from Taylor for his passion and input. Taylor envisions her music being admired on stage like a Broadway musical. Teyana Taylor is full of the best surprises these days! After taking a five-year hiatus from music, she is back in go-mode and applying all the right pressure with her new single, 'Long Time.' The track's pulsating bass line melds into her raspy cooing of 'Should've been walked out this b**ch a long time' only for the beat to switch up, offering listeners a heart-wrenching vibe as she sings, 'Why won't you love me back to life?' The video, released on June 4, boasts two leading men: LaKeith Stanfield and the internet's latest obsession, Aaron Pierre. Taylor and the Rebel Ridge star sent fans into hysterics when they seemingly soft-launched their relationship on social media in celebration of his 31st birthday — but neither of them has explicitly given their close bond a title. Yet, as it turns out, their chemistry showcased in the visual is woven into the DNA of her upcoming album, Escape Room. The project is slated for release in August. In a new GQ feature published on Wednesday (June 11), the multihyphenate entertainer shared that Pierre played an integral role in supporting her during the creative journey. She dropped off her last LP, The Album, in 2020. Following its release, she parted ways with Def Jam Recordings. She has since resigned with the label. 'They came with a new team and a new plan. They made the proper choices to make sure they came back to me at their best,' said the infinitely talented creative. Speaking of the new body of work she crafted, Taylor said that Pierre 'd**n near EPed the album. He's so on top of it, and so involved, and so passionate in regards to the album.' The Mufasa: The Lion King actor is not just a sex symbol and on-screen gem; He also has an ear for music and appreciation for the little details. She shared, 'He would be like, 'Oh, yeah, that melody right there? That was fire.' I'm like, 'Thank you. I thought nobody was going to notice that,'' and gushed, 'He's a real big music head.' Furthermore, the Harlem-bred superstar shared, 'And just how hands-on he's been on this album with me has been really amazing to see. [Do] you ever sit back and be like, 'This person [doesn't] play about me'? I was like, 'Yeah, you need to be my leading man, because you understand every single song, every single emotion, [and] every single feeling, which [means] that on set, you're going to bring it.'' Taylor is already proving that she is an undeniable force on the big screen. Her movie roles include Tyler Perry's Madea's Big Happy Family and Straw, starring opposite Leonardo DiCaprio in One Battle After Another, and 2023's A Thousand and One, to name a few. Escape Room will join the year's catalogue of visual albums when it comes out later this summer, but Taylor is already imagining all the ways she wants fans to experience the world of her music. As told to GQ, she wants 'to eventually bring an album to Broadway.' But for now, 'I want my tours and my shows to feel like a musical on Broadway and not just a concert,' she said. With Escape Room, Taylor isn't just making a comeback; She's charting a new artistic experience. Blending music, film, and raw emotion, this project marks a new era of creative control. You Might Also Like Shannon Sharpe apologizes to Nicki Minaj after past comment sparks diss track response Tommy Davidson talks 'Martin' spinoff & why he loves working with Martin Lawrence: 'He's fearless like me'
