About Cortney Wills

Cortney M. Wills is the Entertainment Director at TheGrio and host of our latest podcast initiative, Acting Up.
Born and raised in Los Angeles, the Medill alum began her career at Time Inc. and has since covered music, film, television, and pop culture for numerous publications including Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, Billboard, MTV News, JET, and more.
Much of her work at TheGrio focuses on holding Hollywood accountable and examines how stories about our people, our culture, and our communities are being told on screens big and small.
She’s currently based in Los Angeles where she resides with her husband and children.

All Articles

Alfre Woodard & Gabrielle Dennis
July 12, 2018
An exclusive interview with ‘Luke Cage’ stars, Alfre Woodard and Gabrielle Dennis on the state of Black women in Hollywood.
Issa Rae
July 12, 2018
Nominations for the 2018 Emmys have been announced and nominees include Issa Rae, John Legend, Trevor Noah, Donald Glover, and more.
XXXTentacion thegrio.com
July 11, 2018
Authorities have charged Michael Boatwright with first-degree murder in the killing of Florida-based rapper, XXXtentacion.
Luther Vandross was outed as gay after his death.
July 11, 2018
Papa John’s founder, John Schnatter, allegedly used the n-word during a conference call in May and made other offensive comments.
Kylie Jenner
July 11, 2018
Kylie Jenner covers FORBES for being the youngest soon-to-be billionaire and we’re shocked she has more money than her sisters.
Chadwick Boseman thegrio.com
July 11, 2018
‘Black Panther’ star, Chadwick Boseman has announces his next starring film role will be in the upcoming movie ’17 Bridges.’
Donald Glover thegrio.com
July 11, 2018
Donald Glover aka Childish Gambino has just dropped two new summer singles via Twitter, “Feels Like Summer” and “Summertiem Magic.”
Luther Vandross was outed as gay after his death.
July 3, 2018
Tina Turner loses her eldest son, Craig Raymond, to suicide. He was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound at his Studio City, CA home on Tuesday.
Beyonce & Jay-Z
July 3, 2018
Beyonce shares sweet snapshots of herself relaxing with Jay-Z on Instagram while they take a break from their ‘On The Run II Tour.’
July 3, 2018
L’ove & Hip Hop New York’ star Remy Ma announces she and Papoose are expecting their first child together and she’s four months along.
Idris Elba theGrio.com
July 3, 2018
Actor and director, Idris Elba, has just announced the launch of his own record label, 7Wallace Music and signed James BKS.
tanya Acker
July 2, 2018
‘Hot Bench’ star Tanya Acker offers insight into her hit show and the long-standing racial disparities within our justice system.
Johnny Wright Black Glam thegrio.com
July 2, 2018
On the inaugural episode of our new series, ‘Black Glam’ Amy Dubois Barnett interviews Johnny Wright about his road to success.
Tamar Braxton thegrio.com
July 2, 2018
Tamar Braxton speaks on issues with body dysmorphia and being pressured to deliver more drama on ‘Braxton Family Values.’
serena williams thegrio.com
July 2, 2018
Serena Williams opens up about her 23-year tennis career and raising her daughter on Zac Posen’s ‘Loud and Clear.’
Pat Houston
June 29, 2018
An exclusive interview with Pat Houston on why she executive produced ‘Whitney,’ the explosive documentary on Whitney Houston.
Danai Gurira thegrio.com
June 29, 2018
This week’s episode of ‘Breaking Big’ features a deep dive into the life of ‘Black Panther’ and ‘The Walking Dead’ star, Danai Gurira.
the first purge
June 29, 2018
The fourth installment of The Purge franchise will take us all the way back to the beginning when The First […]
T.I.
June 28, 2018
T.I. opens up about his activism and why black folks should affect social change with their wallets in our exclusive interview.
Kendrick Lamar
June 28, 2018
Pulitzer Prize winner, Kendrick Lamar is on the cover of ‘Vanity Fair’ and opened up about his road to success in the revealing interview.