Blog
Remembering Pamela Fannoun (1986-2026)
Tribute submitted by Marwan Nabti.
Today is her 40th birthday. Let’s celebrate her life.
Pamela Fannoun was, by the account of everyone who knew her, impossible not to love. She came to work each day at MTV Lebanon with a wide smile – the same smile she kept even in the last stretch of her life, as she quietly fought the cancer she rarely let anyone see her carry. MTV was her happy place. She loved the work itself, not just the being-seen of it, and her colleagues loved her back.
She was born on October 9, 1986, the youngest of four. Pamela grew up in Aoukar, in the Metn, though her family came from Majdalouna, a village in the Chouf. Her father, Captain George Fannoun, was a pilot; her mother was Armenian, and both sides shaped who she was. The family was Syriac Catholic. She loved the things that stay with a person: the sea, the outdoors, hiking, the pull of nature. She studied Communication Arts at Notre Dame University–Louaize, and turned her early love of storytelling into a career in front of the camera.
She joined MTV in 2000, where she found her place on the morning show Alive, hosting the segments that would soon become her own. On Made in Lebanon, she put a national spotlight on the country’s small businesses, artisans and entrepreneurs – the makers and dreamers who don’t usually get airtime. On Pets, she gave her attention to the cause closest to her heart: animal welfare, responsible ownership, adoption, the creatures she thought of as the voiceless. And on Live in Style, she covered interior design, architecture, and the aesthetics of everyday life. In January 2026, when MTV reformatted Alive, Pamela was promoted to co-host – a recognition of what she’d built there, and of how much the show had come to rely on her warmth.
Off camera, none of that was a persona. She fed the stray dogs of Beirut, found them shelter, found them people to take them in. She recycled; she cared, in an ordinary daily way, about the earth. And even as she battled her own illness in silence, she took part in MTV’s telethons, helping raise money for others facing the very disease she was facing herself.
She was also, simply, someone who loved life – a socialite in the warmest sense, always at the opening of a new restaurant or bar, always on the guest list, always glad to be among people and friends. Beyond television, she was a co-owner of El Pastor, a Mexican restaurant, where she also ran a concept store showcasing Lebanese talent. That was Pamela: loved by everyone, and giving that love back – to her colleagues, to strangers, to animals, to her country – right to the end.
Pamela passed away on June 2, 2026, and was laid to rest in Majdalouna. Today, on what would have been her 40th birthday, the best way to honor her is to do what she always did: show a little kindness, especially to those who can’t ask for it.
Looking for something to do? I can guide you.
Or start with one of these