Woman Who Gave Middle Finger to Joakim Noah is the Widow of Hedge Funder Seth Tobias
By Jason McIntyre
Here’s another layer to the story about the woman who flashed Joakim Noah a middle finger after the Bulls’ star was ejected from Game 2 Wednesday: Filomena Tobias is the widow of hedge funder Seth Tobias, who mysteriously died in 2008. The story is a wild one, and the first place you should go is this New York Magazine piece from 2008. But first, a few words from her daughter, who spoke to the Sun-Sentinel:
“Yes, it’s my mom. She’s embarrassed, but she is being a good sport,” said the daughter told the Sun Sentinel on Thursday. “She was having fun just like any other fan. All she has to say is that people need to get a life.”
End of story? If only it were that easy. So, back to the NY Magazine piece. Filomena Tobias is also known as Phyllis. Keep that in mind when you read this snippet:
At 8:08 p.m., Tobias texted Borgerson to let him know he’d gotten home safely. Seth and Phyllis had dinner together and then, according to Phyllis, tried to have sex in the pool. They eventually gave up, Phyllis says. Seth was too drunk.
Phyllis went inside and began her nighttime beauty regimen. After a shower, she walked downstairs and squinted through the gloaming. She thought she caught a glimpse of Seth swimming naked in the pool. Then she went back upstairs and got ready for bed. But shortly after midnight, Phyllis called Brett Borgerson’s wife and left a voice-mail that said, “Please call me back, Seth is acting weird. I don’t know if he’s passed out.”
About half an hour later, she called 911. “I don’t know if my husband has passed out or what.” Her accent was thick, New Jersey. The dispatcher asked if her husband was breathing. “I don’t know, he’s turned over!” Phyllis screamed. “Please just send me somebody. He’s outside [in] the pool.” She could then be heard shouting at her floating husband, “Seth, don’t play with me.”
About fifteen minutes later, a Jupiter Police Department squad car arrived, and two officers shone their flashlights into the pool. The lights eventually settled on Phyllis. She was holding Seth in the shallow end. Paramedics arrived and began CPR. Geysers of water shot out of Seth’s lungs; rigor mortis had already set in. At 1:08 a.m., Seth Tobias was pronounced dead. He was 44.
And, we’re off! Cocaine, pill-popping, sex party circuit, strippers … it’s all there. The rest of the story is head-scratching – Seth Tobias was her fourth husband – and, for fun, occasionally look up at the Noah photo as you read about Phyllis and her dead husband. [NY Magazine]