National Basketball Association

Birdwoman says sorry for gesture

Published May. 17, 2013 1:00 a.m. ET

foxsports

Miami Heat fan Filomena "Birdwoman" Tobias is trying to bury the middle finger once and for all.

The Miami socialite became the face of the Bulls-Heat series last week when she greeted Joakim Noah with an obscene gesture after Noah was ejected from an emotion-packed game. As the photo of Tobias flipping off Noah circulated around the Internet, she got the usual attention and rude comments — and then the lid really came off.

A little digging revealed that Tobias’ late husband, Seth Tobias, had mysteriously died in his pool in 2007. The Internet, ever quick to rush to judgment, quickly started making its own connections.

Tobias ignored much of the attention, but she is now pushing back. Her lawyer, Anthony Barbuto, sent a statement to gossipextra.com saying that Tobias regrets the incident — but also that she would please like to be left alone.

“Ms. Tobias has been a devoted Miami Heat fan for as long as she can remember, and like many other devoted fans, she unfortunately allowed her passion for the team to disregard proper fan etiquette. She is only human, and her emotions got the best of her,” Barbuto wrote. “She offers her genuine apologies to anyone she has offended, and she requests that her privacy, as well as the privacy of her family, be respected at this time.”

“Ms. Tobias is distressed at the needless national attention this incident has garnered and the unwarranted invasion of privacy by the press into her personal life, including the malicious and untrue reporting about her husband’s tragic passing," he continued. "What started as a simple and ill-mannered gesture that was made towards a member of the opposing team who had just been ejected has now transformed into a very ugly and despicable intrusion into Ms. Tobias’ past.

“With that said, Ms. Tobias remains loyal to the Miami Heat.”

With that said, the Internet is never going to forget this one.