Local Anchor Fired Over Prince Tribute

A Nashville television sports anchor has apparently lost his job because he mixed Prince lyrics into a recent broadcast.

WZTV Fox-17 sports anchor Dan Phillips used a Prince-themed sports report on April 21.

When contacted by The Tennessean, he would not confirm that was why he was fired from the Sinclair Broadcast Group-owned station and said he did not want to comment. Phillips worked at the station for 10 years.

However, Phillips posted on his Facebook page that was the reason he was let go.

He posted on Facebook:

"First of all, I want to thank everyone for the kind words, comments and positive feedback on this tribute I did to Prince last week. It really means a lot.

Unfortunately, there were apparently some viewers, as well as management at the station, who did not feel the same way. They felt I was insensitive. And as a result, I was terminated today.

I'm choosing to use this as a catalyst for some exciting things I've been working on for some time now. I'll have many more details on this in coming days.

For now, thanks again for all of your support. And if you need an old, washed-up sports guy for anything, please let me know!"

WZTV Fox-17 news director Bryan McGuder has not returned calls from a Tennessean reporter.