Was Former MTV VJ Ananda Lewis Related to Will Smith? Inside the Connection

Fans were shocked to learn of the death of former MTV VJ and talk show host Ananda Lewis, who entertained and informed a generation on television. Following her passing, multiple questions have come up, including those involving her personal life and relationship to Will Smith.

Ananda joins a long list of celebrities who have been open about their battle with cancer, as she openly shared her diagnosis publicly online in October 2020 via Instagram post. Getting her start in television in 1995 as the host of BET’s Teen Summit, she then went on to even greater heights as a prominent fixture as an MTV VJ beginning in 1997 until her departure in 2001.

Ananda has family ties to Will Smith, even if they're not formally related. In March 2011, Ananda welcomed son Langston (her only child) with Will’s younger brother Harry Smith, according to PEOPLE.

Ananda and Harry were never married, and as such, she and Will were not related. However, he is her son's uncle. Harry is also the father of a daughter named Sydney, who was born in 1999 from a prior relationship.

For the last five years, Ananda shared her breast cancer journey, and sadly, on Wednesday, June 11, her sister Lakshmi announced her death at the age of 52 in a Facebook post. “She’s free, and in His heavenly arms. Lord, rest her soul,” her sister wrote.

According to PEOPLE, after sharing her stage III breast cancer diagnosis in 2020, Ananda also revealed that due to her fear of radiation, she had not been getting regular mammograms.

Four years later, in October 2024, while participating in a round table discussion with CNN anchors Stephanie Elam and Sara Sidner, Ananda shared that she decided against having a double mastectomy, despite her doctor advising her that it was the best plan of action. As a result of her decision, Ananda also shared at the time that her tumor metastasized and her breast cancer progressed to Stage IV, the outlet reported at the time.

“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,” Ananda said of her decision. “I decided to keep my tumor and try to work it out of my body a different way. Looking back on that, I go, ‘You know what? Maybe I should have.’”

“It was the first time I ever had a conversation with death because I felt like: This is how it is,” she recalled after discovering her cancer had progressed. “I was just like, ‘Fudge man, I really thought I had this.’ I was frustrated, I was a little angry at myself, and I said, ‘Man, listen. I know you’re coming for me at some point. But I don’t want it to be now. And if you could just wait, I promise when you do come, I’m gonna make it fun for you.’”