Overview

• Her sister, Lakshmi Emory, announced on June 11 that Lewis died at 52, having achieved her wish to attend her son’s middle school graduation.
• Her 14-year-old son, Langston, whom she shared with Harry Smith, graduated from middle school just hours after her death.
• Stephanie Elam visited Lewis hours before her death, later revealing Lewis’s final text message, in which she reflected that bodies are on loan and must be returned.
• Sara Sidner joined Elam in an on-air tribute, highlighting Lewis’s choice to forgo a doctor-recommended double mastectomy in favor of alternative therapies.
• Lewis documented her breast cancer journey since her 2020 diagnosis, penning a January 2025 essay in Essence that urged early detection and patient-driven treatment decisions.