A sports anchor in Nashville, Tennessee said he was fired for a Prince-themed sports highlight package on the day the music icon died.
On April 21, WZTV Fox-17 sports anchor Dan Phillips decided to pepper well-known Prince lyrics into his nightly sports recap in tribute to the artist who was found dead early in the day at his Paisley Park residence in Minnesota.
“Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to get through this thing called life. An electric world, life, but I’m here to tell there’s something else – the NHL playoffs,” Phillips said at the start of his report. “Let’s go crazy, Smashville, let’s get nuts” the anchor said referring the Nashville Predator playoff game.
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“This is what it sounds like when doves cry and when Mike Fisher scores, his first goal of the playoffs, ties it up!” the anchor said.
Phillips dropped several references throughout his four-minute highlight reel.
“A suddenly steamy Atlanta Braves looking to take two of three from the (Los Angeles) Dodgers, Freddy Freeman tells Chase Utley, ‘I never meant to cause you any pain, I only want to see you laughing in the purple rain, and not on first base,’” Phillips said.
On Friday, the news anchor took to Facebook to say he was “terminated” as a result of his tribute.
“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,” Phillips 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.
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“And as a result, I was terminated today,” reads the Facebook post.
According to The Tennessean, Phillips had worked at the station for 10 years. The station’s manager would not comment to the newspaper about the departure of the sports anchor.
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