Former MTV VJ Bill Bellamy is paying tribute to his former colleague Ananda Lewis, who died this week after a yearslong battle with breast cancer at age 52.
The comedian and actor talked to TMZ after the death of his beloved friend and influential television host, whom he referred to as his “little sister” and had nothing but heartwarming things to say about.
“Ananda had a really warm soul,” he told the outlet. “There was something about her that was very comforting and you could just sit there and kick it with her. And she wasn’t stiff or stuffy or anything — her beauty didn’t even matter, it was actually an introduction to who she was. I just feel very, very heartbroken to get that kinda news about her because she was such a good person and just gave us the best of her.”
He then brought up the important work early in her career when she hosted BET’s Teen Summit for three seasons before she took a gig at MTV. Teen Summit talked about issues plaguing the youth during the ’90s, and Lewis played an important role in the show’s success during her time as host.
“Teen Summit was a big deal,” Bellamy said. “Her show was really, really, really pivotal at that time because it was a voice of the youth [where they] talked about social issues and cultural issues, and she was that beautiful sista, intelligent, talented, her smile would light up a room.”
He continued by saying that the two quickly became friends when she headed over to MTV because of their similar cultural background. “When she came over to MTV, it was kinda dope because it’s like now we got two African-American people on this channel representin’ and we both always felt that we had to represent the culture and that’s when I knew she was my girl, because we knew at an early age that the opportunity we had on television was monumental and that we were representing our culture in a positive way.”
He added that her versatility in who she was able to interview was unique, and he compared her to legendary journalist Barbara Walters. “She would do obviously the music as well, but then she would jump off and do her really dope interviews,” Bellamy said. “She was like to me the Black Barbara Walters, because Ananda could sit down and have a dope ass intelligent conversation with you where she could rock out, from Obama to Lil’ Kim to whatever. She was nice like that. And so, for me, I always rooted for her because I just thought that this is what we need to see.”
Lewis interviewed then-first lady Hillary Clinton on Teen Summit in 1996, during which they talked about topics like healthcare and abortion — which was a big deal, because folks of that stature rarely engaged with shows that focused on minorities and inner-city youth in that era. The former host remembered that important episode on her YouTube page in 2016. You can watch it below.
