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Former MuchMusic and MusiquePlus host Juliette Powell died last week. She was 54.
The news was shared in an obituary, which said Powell, who spent much of her life living in Montreal and Toronto, died on June 3 from acute bacterial meningitis.
Born in New York in 1970, Powell got her start in the spotlight at a young age, spending time on the pageant circuit and as a model after moving to Montreal with her mother at the age of eight.
In 1989, at the age of 18, she made history as the first Black Canadian to be crowned Miss Canada, earning her a chance to represent Canada at the Miss Universe pageant. She joined the pageant circuit “motivated by a desire to challenge racial biases in beauty pageants,” her obituary reads.
FILE – Juliette Powell weeps with joy after being crowned Miss Canada in Toronto.
Ron Bull/Toronto Star via Getty Images
In 1992, she joined MusiquePlus as a VJ, hosting the dance music show Bouge de là!, before moving over to sister station MuchMusic in 1996 and hosting both French Kiss and Electric Circus.
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In 1999 she began working for CP24 as a business reporter and would eventually graduate summa cum laude with a degree in sociology from Columbia University.
After founding her own media and consulting company, Powell International Entertainment Inc., she became a prominent figure in the media world and much of her work focused on digital strategy and examining the ethics of new technologies.
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In recent years, she joined the faculty of New York University’s Interactive Telecommunications Program, teaching courses on media, technology and ethics.
One of her books on social media, 33 Million People in the Room, published in 2009, was translated into several languages. The last book she co-authored, The AI Dilemma, examined the implications and perils of artificial intelligence.
A celebration honouring Powell’s life will take place later this year.
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