By Jason Hall
June 13, 2025
CNN anchor Stephanie Elam revealed one of the heartbreaking final text messages she received from her longtime friend, former MTV VJ Ananda Lewis, before the latter’s death this week.
“She texted me and said things had taken a different turn than she would have liked,” Elam said during a live newscast alongside fellow CNN anchor Sara Snider. “This is part of the text she sent me: ‘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.’ And then she goes on to say, ‘I love you my wonderful lifelong bestie of besties.’”
Elam, who she was friends with Lewis since the two attended Howard University together, called her "my ride of die" while speaking candidly about her during the newscast. The anchor said she visited Lewis one day prior she her death and could see that her condition declined rapidly before being notified about her death from Lewis’ sister, Lakshmi Emory, after completing her newscast.
“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,” Elam said. “It happened very quickly how things changed.”
CNN correspondent, Stephanie Elam, breaks down sharing Ananda Lewis' final text message before her passing
“She was at peace”
🎥: @CNN https://t.co/4cmgPDGtB9 pic.twitter.com/X4BC836a20
Lewis died at the age of 52 following a lengthy battle with breast cancer, Emory confirmed in a post shared on her Facebook account.
"She’s free, and in His heavenly arms," she wrote with several broken heart emojis and a black and white photo of her sister. "Lord, rest her soul 🙏🏽."
She’s free, and in His heavenly arms. 💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔 Lord, rest her soul🙏🏽
Lewis participated in a roundtable discussion with Elam and Snider, who was also battling Stage III breast cancer, in October 2024, revealing that she didn’t have a double mastectomy despite being advised to do so and her tumor had metastasized, progressing to stage IV cancer.
“My plan at first was to get out excessive toxins in my body. I felt like my body is intelligent, I know that to be true. Our bodies are brilliantly made,” Lewis said. “I decided to keep my tumor and try to work it out of my body a different way. . . . I wish I could go back. It’s important for me to admit where I went wrong with this."
A post shared by Ananda Lewis (@imanandalewis)
Lewis joined MTV in 1997 and served as a host of several shows including Total Request Live and Hot Zone, having been dubbed by the New York Times as "the hip-hop generation’s reigning It Girl" in 1999, before leaving the channel in 2001. The former veejay revealed that she was diagnosed with stage III breast cancer in a post shared on her Instagram account in 2020, claiming she hand’t gotten regular mammograms due to her fear of radiation.
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