Prince inspired sports broadcast reportedly costs Fox 17 presenter his job

'They felt I was insensitive. And as a result, I was terminated today'

A Nashville reporter for Fox 17 has reportedly been fired for his Prince-themed news report.

Dan Philips, who has worked at Fox station WZTV for over ten years, took to Facebook to claim his management and some viewers thought the report was “insensitive”.

The light-hearted post included a number of references to Prince songs and lyrics, such as “Let's go crazy, Smashville“, ”This is what it sounds like when doves cry“ and ”It's the Ducks who are gonna party like it's 1999“.

Writing in a post on Facebook, Philips thanked his fans for their “kind words” about his broadcast and claimed that he'd been let go.

“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,” he wrote.

“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.”

Philips’ broadcast featured a photo of the iconic musician and it began with him announcing, “Dearly beloved we are gathered here today to get through this thing called life … I’m here to tell you there’s something else, the NHL playoffs”. The journalist then continued to intersperse coverage of the National Hockey League with Prince lyrics.

Phillips appears to have deleted his Twitter page since the incident and there is also no biography of him on Fox 17's website.