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Popular TV personality Ananda Lewis passed on, aged 52, on June 11, 2025, after battling with breast cancer for nearly five years. Ananda's best friend and CNN correspondent Stephanie Elam, and CNN anchor Sarah Sidner paid tribute to the Howard University alumnus.
In a News Central segment dedicated to Lewis on CNN, Stephanie Elam revealed the last text she got from the former MTV host. Overwhelmed by emotions, Elam read the heart-wrenching text:
"You know my feelings on this. We all go. These bodies are on loan and must be returned. We come in love and choose to leave it with love as well."
A teary Elam concluded by reading the deceased's last words to her: "I love you, my wonderful lifelong bestie of besties."
“It happened very quickly how things changed," Stephanie Elam said as she mourned Ananda Lewis on TV
During the tribute session for Lewis, Sarah Sidney and Stephanie Elam reflected on shared experiences and memories they had with Lewis. Lewis was vocal about her decision to treat cancer holistically and not get a double mastectomy and chemotherapy.
Her close friend Elam expressed that Lewis had come to terms with this decision:
"One thing I want everyone to know is that she was at peace with this decision. She had come to grips with it,"
Addressing the suddenness of the 52-year-old's passing, the California-born journalist said:
"We thought we had weeks, and it turned out that it turned into days, and it turned out it was just a matter of hours. It happened very quickly how things changed," she added.
As she concluded her moving statement about the late MTV VJ, Stephanie praised Ananda's bravery and optimism against all odds:
"I love my girl, but she was hard-headed. She wanted to do it her own way despite the fact that so many of us close to her wanted her to try the way that [Sidner] did it. But this is what she wanted to do, and she was totally at peace with it,"
On June 12, 2025, Stephanie Elam shared a tribute to the late Ananda Lewis on her IG page. The tribute featured a montage of Lewis and herself over the years. In the caption, the CNN correspondent detailed how her friendship with Lewis blossomed from their college years and lasted for decades. Ananda Lewis is survived by her son, Langston, and sister Lakshmi Emory.
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