A Russian reporter was fired after she mentioned President Obama’s name on air, and complemented it with her middle finger aimed toward the camera.

Tatyana Limanova, a senior reporter at REN TV, was fired from her job as an anchor at the privately owned network 10 days after the video of the Nov. 14 newscast went viral in Russia and Western countries.

“During the ‘News 24' program, the presenter Limanova made an unacceptable gesture that was a synonym for an offensive expression,” REN TV said in a statement, according to the U.K.’s Telegraph.

Limanova was reading the news that Russian President Dmitry Medvedev had assumed the rotating chairmanship of the Asia Pacific Economic Council, a post that had previously been held by Obama.

But it may all have been news-set horseplay that caused a misunderstanding, sources told The Telegraph.

The anchor reportedly thought she was doing a voice over and was not going to be seen on camera when she flipped the bird to studio technicians as a joke, who were reportedly trying to distract her while she was reading.