Ananda Lewis has died at the age of 52. She became known in the '90s as a BET host and MTV VJ before launching her own TV talk show. In 2020, she revealed she had been diagnosed with breast cancer.

She rose to fame on “Hot Zone” and other shows before being diagnosed with breast cancer in 2019. She said last year that her cancer had progressed to Stage 4.

As a Black female voice in media, Ananda Lewis’s impact broke many invisible barriers, challenging stereotypes and paving the way for the generation that followed.