Foulmouthed Philadelphia news anchor Alycia Lane is off the air.
Lane – facing felony charges after she allegedly sucker-punched a New York policewoman in a homophobic rant – was canned by Philly’s KYW-TV yesterday, just two hours before she was slated to return to the newscast after a three-week hiatus.
“[We] have concluded that it would be impossible for Alycia to continue to report the news as she, herself, has become the focus of so many news stories,” Michael Colleran, station president and general manager, said in a statement.
Lane was “released from her contract, effective immediately,” station brass said.
The Long Island native, who has been an anchor at the station since 2003, blasted her firing as “unfair” and her station’s action as “unusual and unwarranted.”
Minutes after the KYW-TV announcement, Lane’s lawyer Paul Rosen released a statement on her behalf, saying the station “unilaterally terminated” Lane even though she had several years to go on her contract.
‘There has been absolutely no determination that Alycia is guilty of any wrongful conduct,” he said. “The termination is unfair because Alycia has never had an opportunity to defend against this charge [or] tell her side of the story publicly.”
Lane had been on a paid vacation since Dec. 17 – a day after she was arrested in Manhattan on felony assault charges, accused of slugging NYPD officer Bernadette Enchautegui and calling her a “f- -king dyke.”
Immediately after the arrest, Lane’s station scrubbed the anchor from its holiday promos and New Year’s Eve special.
Lane’s co-anchor, Larry Mendte, has been flying solo on the 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. newscasts.
The Emmy-winner has been laying low since she and her beau, DJ Chris Booker, were involved in a Dec. 16 early-morning melee with plainclothes NYPD cops in Chelsea.
As Booker argued with police, Lane began taking pictures, then barked at Enchautegui: “I don’t give a f- -k who you are! I am a reporter, you f- -king dyke!”
Lane is due back in Manhattan criminal court April 3.
“We wish to make clear that we are not prejudging the outcome of the criminal case against Alycia that is pending in New York,” Colleran said.
“We understand that Alycia expects to be fully vindicated in that proceeding.”
The alleged cop-bashing isn’t Lane’s first brush with controversy. The twice-divorced newsreader made headlines last May when she emailed sexy swimsuit photos of herself to married NFL network anchor Rich Eisen.
The photos were intercepted by Eisen’s wife.
She also raised eyebrows when she began dating New York news anchor Chris Wragge, who was still married to his Playboy Playmate wife at the time.