Ananda Lewis was an American broadcast journalist, a human rights advocate, and a recipient of the NAACP Image Award on two occasions. Lewis was a prominent cultural figure and a well-known television personality for BET and MTV in the late 1990s.
Childhood & Family
Sarasvati Ananda Lewis was born on March 21, 1973, in Los Angeles, California. She was the second-born daughter of Yvonne Lewis, who works as an account manager for Pacific Bell, and Stanley Lewis, a specialist in computer animation.
When she was just two years old, her parents’ marriage ended in divorce, leading her mother to move Sarasvati and her sister, Lakshmi, to live with their grandmother in San Diego.
Education
In the fourth grade, Ananda Lewis began her education at the San Diego School of Creative and Performance Arts (SCPA), a public magnet institution, where she continued for nine years.
During this time, she engaged in studies of theater, vocal music, photography, and dance from the fourth grade until her high school graduation.
She pursued a major in history at Howard University, located in Washington, D.C., from which she graduated with honors, cum laude, in 1995.
Ananda Lewis’ Career
While studying at Howard University in 1993, Lewis was prominently featured in the successful R&B music video “Baby, I’m Yours” by fellow HU alumnus Shai, which was shot on campus.
Throughout her college years, Ananda Lewis dedicated her time to mentoring at-risk youth. She was thinking about pursuing graduate studies, but her pupils encouraged her to try out for BET’s Teen Summit.
Lewis successfully auditioned and subsequently became the host of Teen Summit. Throughout three seasons, she addressed significant issues impacting teenagers.
In 1996, during an episode of the show titled It Takes a Village, Lewis interviewed the then-First Lady Hillary Clinton, whose book bearing the same title had been released earlier that year.
Ananda Lewis was the host and VJ for a diverse array of shows. She commenced her role as one of the hosts of MTV Live, alongside Carson Daly and Toby Amies, which was the flagship show of the network’s new era from its Times Square studios.
She also briefly took on the hosting duties for 12 Angry Viewers. MTV Live later merged with Total Request to establish Total Request Live, a daily top ten video countdown show where she frequently co-hosted and occasionally served as the main host.
In addition, she hosted Hot Zone, which showcased both music videos and her interviews with musicians and other individuals, and made occasional appearances on MTV Jams.
MTV also invited Ananda Lewis to serve as the host for other topical programs, which encompassed two MTV forums focused on school violence that aired in the aftermath of the Columbine High School tragedy, along with several memorial tributes for singer Aaliyah, who lost her life in a plane crash in 2001.
In 2001, Lewis was honored with another NAACP Image Award for her hosting duties on the MTV special True Life: I Am Driving While Black.
In 2000, People magazine featured Lewis in its compilation of the world’s “50 Most Beautiful People.” Subsequently, in 2001, Lewis decided to depart from MTV to launch her own talk show.
The Ananda Lewis Show premiered on September 10, 2001, following extensive media coverage that drew comparisons between Lewis and Oprah Winfrey.
Cause of Death
On October 2, 2020, Ananda Lewis revealed that she was diagnosed with stage III breast cancer in 2019 following a self-examination. In her announcement, she urged her followers to stay current with their mammograms, noting that she had not received hers before her diagnosis.
On October 15, 2024, she announced that her cancer had reached stage IV after six years of struggle.
Around this time, Ananda Lewis sat down with CNN correspondents Stephanie Elam and Sara Sidner—who, in 2024, were also diagnosed with breast cancer—to discuss their respective health journeys.
Although Lewis initially rejected the double mastectomy suggested by her doctor, she ultimately expressed deep regret for not having consented to the procedure earlier, as advised by her healthcare providers.
Ananda Lewis died at the age of 52 on June 11, 2025, in hospice care at her home in Los Angeles, with her family by her side.
