US television network CNN on Wednesday fired a comedian from its annual New Year's Eve coverage after she provoked outrage for being photographed holding up a prop depicting Donald Trump's bloodied severed head.

The US president castigated Kathy Griffin saying she "should be ashamed of herself" for the grisly-looking photograph.

"My children, especially my 11 year old son, Barron, are having a hard time with this. Sick!" he tweeted. Griffin, 56, who had co-hosted CNN's annual New Year's Eve coverage for the last decade, apologised on Tuesday and said she had asked the celebrity photographer Tyler Shields to remove the picture from the internet.-AFP