Ananda Lewis facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Ananda Lewis
Lewis in 2007
Born	Sarasvati Ananda Lewis (1973-03-21)March 21, 1973 Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Died	June 11, 2025(2025-06-11) (aged 52) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Alma mater	Howard University L.A. Trade–Tech
Occupation	Broadcast journalist social activist model carpenter
Years active	1993–2025
Children	1

Ananda Lewis (born March 21, 1973, died June 11, 2025) was an American journalist and activist. She won two NAACP Image Awards. Many saw her as a "bright star" and a voice for her generation. Lewis was a popular TV personality on BET and MTV in the late 1990s.

She hosted BET's Teen Summit and was an MTV VJ. She also hosted Hot Zone and sometimes Total Request Live. Lewis was featured in the MTV documentary True Life: I Am Driving While Black. Later, she hosted The Ananda Lewis Show, a TV talk show that ran for two seasons. This show focused on serious topics, unlike other talk shows at the time. After a break, she became a reporter for The Insider. In 2019, Lewis returned to TV to host While You Were Out on TLC.

In October 2020, Lewis shared that she had been fighting breast cancer for two years. In an interview in October 2024, she said she wanted people to remember that she "loved hard, and lived loud." Ananda Lewis passed away at her home in Los Angeles on June 11, 2025, at age 52. She had been in hospice care.

Early Life and School

Ananda Lewis was born Sarasvati Ananda Lewis on March 21, 1973, in Los Angeles, California. Her mother, Yvonne Lewis, worked as an account manager. Her father, Stanley Lewis, was a computer-animation specialist. When Ananda was two, her parents divorced. She and her sister, Lakshmi, moved to San Diego to live with their grandmother.

Her mother traveled to Europe for a year, leaving Ananda and Lakshmi with their grandmother. Ananda felt left alone during this time. She often argued with her mother as she grew up. She also rarely saw her father, who had remarried. Ananda and her grandmother also had disagreements often.

In 1981, at eight years old, Ananda entered the Little Miss San Diego Contest. She won the beauty pageant. For the talent part, Lewis performed a dance she created herself. It was set to the song "Ebony and Ivory" by Stevie Wonder and Paul McCartney. After winning, a talent agent noticed her. She began working in local theater and on television. In fourth grade, she started at the San Diego School of Creative and Performance Arts (SCPA). She stayed there for nine years, studying theater, music, photography, and dance.

She later studied history at Howard University in Washington, D.C.. She graduated with honors in 1995.

Ananda Lewis's Career

Starting Her Career

While studying at Howard University in 1993, Lewis appeared in a popular R&B music video. It was for the song "Baby, I'm Yours" by the group Shai. The video was filmed on her college campus.

During college, Lewis volunteered to help young people who were facing challenges. She thought about going to graduate school. But her students encouraged her to try out for BET's Teen Summit.

Lewis got the job and became the host of Teen Summit. For three seasons, she talked about important issues affecting teenagers. In 1996, she interviewed then-First Lady Hillary Clinton on the show. The episode was called It Takes a Village. In the same year, Teen Summit was nominated for an award. The next year, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) gave Lewis an Image Award. This was for her work on Black Entertainment Television (BET).

Soon after, MTV offered Lewis a job as a host and video jockey. It was hard for her to leave Teen Summit. She said she "cried for three weeks" thinking about her choice. She decided to move to MTV because she could reach many more young people there. She felt she could have a bigger impact on America's youth.

Working at MTV

Lewis hosted many shows at MTV. She started on MTV Live with Carson Daly. This was a main show for MTV's new era from its Times Square studios. She also briefly hosted 12 Angry Viewers. MTV Live later combined with Total Request to become Total Request Live. This was a daily countdown show where she often co-hosted.

She also hosted Hot Zone, which showed music videos and interviews with musicians. Sometimes she hosted MTV Jams. Lewis was known for her smart broadcasting. An MTV senior vice president said they wanted hosts who were more than just "pretty people." They wanted hosts like Ananda who could do a lot of live television. MTV also asked Lewis to host other important programs. These included two forums on school violence after the Columbine High School massacre. She also hosted tributes for the singer Aaliyah after she died in 2001. In 2001, Lewis won another NAACP Image Award. This was for hosting the MTV special True Life: I Am Driving While Black.

In 1998, while at MTV, Lewis made news when she talked about making personal choices about her relationships. She said she made the decision for herself. But she also wanted to help other young girls. She felt that if taking a break was good for her, it might help others too. She believed that hearing "You don't have to do it" would have made a big difference in her own life.

Lewis became a well-known person at celebrity events in New York City. A writer for The New York Times called her the "It Girl" of the hip-hop generation. This meant she was very popular and in demand.

Later Career Steps

In 2000, People magazine named Lewis one of the world's "50 Most Beautiful People." In 2001, Lewis decided to leave MTV to start her own talk show. The Ananda Lewis Show began on September 10, 2001. Many people compared her to Oprah Winfrey. Lewis still did special shows for MTV after her own show started.

Lewis's show was for women aged 18 to 34. It talked about topics like domestic violence and breast cancer. It was presented as a different choice from the more dramatic talk shows of the time. Her show aired on some WB and NBC stations. It was canceled after about 250 episodes. Lewis later said she regretted doing the show. She felt she was not ready for the big responsibility of a full-time hosting role.

In 2004, Lewis became the main reporter for celebrity news on The Insider. This was a nightly entertainment show. Also in 2004, Lewis appeared on the ABC reality show Celebrity Mole: Yucatán. This show won an Emmy award. Lewis loved animals. She co-hosted the A&E show America's Top Dog. She also spoke for the Humane Society. She often introduced her two pet chihuahuas to interviewers. She was also a spokesperson for Reading Is Fundamental, a group that helps kids learn to read.

According to IMDb, Lewis also worked as an actress and producer. She was known for On the Line (2001), Nora's Hair Salon II (2008), and Method & Red (2004).

Personal Life

Lewis said her mother, grandmother, and sister gave her a good and supportive home. As she got older, she felt more upset about her parents' divorce. As an adult, she fixed her relationships with both parents. Lewis was a good friend of singer and actress Aaliyah before Aaliyah's accidental death. Lewis had six godchildren. In 2011, Lewis had her first child, a son named Langston. His father was Harry Smith, the brother of actor Will Smith. She lived in the San Fernando Valley until her death.

Illness and Passing

Lewis in 2000

On October 2, 2020, Lewis announced she had been diagnosed with stage III breast cancer in 2019. She found it after doing a self-exam. In her announcement, she told her followers to get their mammograms. She said she had not gotten hers before her diagnosis. Lewis said, "Early detection, especially for breast cancer, changes your outcome. It can save [your] life."

On October 15, 2024, she announced that her cancer had become stage IV. This was after six years. Around that time, she spoke with CNN reporters Stephanie Elam and Sara Sidner. They were also diagnosed with breast cancer in 2024. Lewis talked about her health journey with them.

Lewis opened up to Sidner and Elam, whom she met at Howard University. She considered Sidner a best friend. Lewis discussed the treatment she chose. She had refused a doctor's recommendation for a double mastectomy. However, she later expressed regret for not agreeing to the mastectomy earlier.

In January 2025, Essence published an article by Lewis. It stressed that "prevention is the real cure." Lewis wrote about the challenges she faced. These included financial and emotional difficulties. She also mentioned problems with her healthcare insurance. She talked about how the COVID-19 pandemic affected her treatment. She also shared her thoughts on quality of life.

Lewis wrote: "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. I would have been cold plunging, exercising consistently, making sure my vitamin D levels were good, detoxing my body on a monthly and yearly basis, and sleeping better. I would’ve been doing all the things I’ve been forced to do now, to keep my body from creating more cancer and remove what it has already made." Lewis passed away on June 11, 2025, at age 52. She was surrounded by her family in hospice care at her home in Los Angeles.

Awards and Nominations