Russian anchorwoman Tatiana Limanova was taken off the air after she made an unacceptable gesture when she said the name of US President Barack Obama on Thursday.
Limanova, an award-winning journalist and host of a news show on the REN-TV private channel, made an unacceptable gesture when presenting a story about the APEC summit in the United States, a moment after mentioning Obama.
Taniana Livanova
The video went viral on the Internet, with many viewers speculating the gesture had been meant to insult the U.S. president, who met his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev on the sidelines of the summit.
“The gesture was addressed to the members of the editing crew, there was no implication of any kind and it had no reference to the information delivered by Tatiana Limanova,” a spokesman for REN-TV station told Interfax.
At the same time, REN-TV issued a public apology announcing Limanova would no longer serve as their news anchor.
“REN-TV’s management considers this a flagrant breach of discipline during a broadcast and shows a lack of professionalism,” the statement said.
There were no details on how Limanova’s duties would change after the incident.
Relations between Russia and the United States have been strained recently over U.S. plans to deploy a missile defence shield in Europe.
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