Woman Who Flipped Off Joakim Noah Identified
MIAMI (CBS) – A picture of what you may call a very passionate Heat fan at Wednesday night's playoff game has gone viral.
In the photo, snapped by Steve Mitchell of USA TODAY Sports, a very upset woman is seen giving the Chicago Bulls' Joakim Noah the one-finger salute as he's ejected from the game.
The big question Thursday morning was – who was she?
She is Filomena 'Phyllis' Tobias, the widow of former CNBC commentator and financial expert Seth Tobias, her daughter, Victoria Racanati, told the Sun Sentinel.
"Yes, it's my mom. She's embarrassed, but she is being a good sport," said Racanati. "She was having fun just like any other fan. All she has to say is that people need to get a life."
At Thursday's team practice, Heat forward Shane Battier said he appreciates "the passion" of the fans but said the woman's rude gesture crossed the bounds of good taste.
"It's a family show still. It's still a family show," Battier said, referring to the many youngsters in attendance and watching on TV.
This isn't Filomena's first time in the public spotlight. After the death of her fourth husband, some questioned her involvement.
On 4th, 2007, Filomena frantically called 9-11 and told the emergency operator "Please send somebody, please! He's not breathing," according to the New York Times.
When police arrived they found Filomena cradling her husband's body by the edge of the pool, his head in her arms, as she sobbed.
Seth Tobias' brothers, Samuel, Spence, Scott and Joshua, claim that she had drugged him and then lured him into the pool where he drowned.
"A former assistant to Seth Tobias has told the police that Filomena Tobias confessed to him that she had cajoled her husband, who was on a cocaine binge, into the water, promising him sex with a male go-go dance," according to the New York Times.
Police investigated the accusations for five months and in the end found there was nothing criminal concerning the death of Seth Tobias.
