Cheryl Wills
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Cheryl Wills is an American journalist, broadcaster, and author born and raised in New York City. The daughter of firefighter Clarence Wills, one of the first African American firefighters integrated into the Fire Department of New York, she studied broadcast journalism at the Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University. She joined Spectrum News NY1 at its launch in 1992 as a producer and medical reporter and has remained with the network ever since, becoming the first African American woman to host a prime-time nightly newscast on the channel. She anchors "New York Tonight" and hosts "In Focus with Cheryl Wills." The recipient of numerous awards including a Gracie Award in 2023 and an Emmy Award in 2025 for a half-hour special report on the reburial of her Civil War ancestor, she is also the author of a series of books chronicling her family's transition from slavery to freedom, beginning with Die Free: A Heroic Family Tale.
In Ghostbusters: Answer the Call (2016), Wills appeared as herself in the role of NY1 News Anchor #2, one of the television journalists shown covering the ghost activity in New York City. The NY1 News segment in the film is also referenced in subsequent IDW Publishing comics set in the 2016 continuity.