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Busta Rhymes made sure the late Ananda Lewis was not forgotten<\/a> at the 2025 MTV Video Music Awards <\/a>(VMAs). As he graced the stage on Sunday night (Sept. 7) to accept the inaugural MTV VMA Rock The Bells<\/a> Visionary\u00a0Award, the veteran rapper paid respect to the visionary MTV Host and VJ.<\/p>\n \u201cI want to thank, and I think we all need to acknowledge, the incredible woman that loved us very much when we came to MTV during the 90s,\u201d he said. \u201cAn incredible woman that loved me, and she loved us. She loved the culture very much. I miss her very much. The late great incredible royal empress Ananda Lewis.<\/p>\n \u201cI want to big up her mother, her father, her sister Lakshmi, I wanna big up Marvett Britto<\/a>\u2026Thank y\u2019all so much, man.\u201d<\/p>\n Ananda Lewis passed away<\/a> in June at age 52 following a battle with\u00a0breast cancer. Her sister, Lakshmi, confirmed the tragic news on social media.<\/p>\n Lewis\u2019 friend, celebrity.land correspondent Stephanie Elam, revealed Lewis\u2019s final text messages to her. \u201cThis is part of the text she sent me: \u2018You 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,’\u201d she shared. \u201cAnd then went on to say, \u201c\u2018I love you, my wonderful lifelong bestie of besties.’\u201d<\/p>\n The journalism and media professional first revealed her breast cancer diagnosis in 2020<\/a> when she confessed that she had been \u201cfighting to get cancer out of my body for almost two years.\u201d<\/p>\n In 2024,<\/a> she detailed her holistic approach to treating the deadly disease and explained, \u201cI decided to keep my tumor and try to work it out of my body a different way.\u201d She added, \u201cLooking back on that, I go, \u2018You know what? Maybe I should have,’\u201d about the decision to decline the doctor-recommended double mastectomy.<\/p>\n More from VIBE.com<\/strong><\/p>\n Sign up for Vibe’s Newsletter<\/a>. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook<\/a>, Twitter<\/a>, and Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n