New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell said she "flipped the bird" during the Tucks parade in response to a float rider who did the same to her. Cantrell addressed the situation formally for the first time since the incident on the final big weekend of Carnival. Cantrell was caught on camera enjoying the parade and apparently shouting out "I love you" before making the gesture that was originally characterized by a city spokesman as being in "jest" and "all in good fun." "I was flipped the bird... and, um... I just had to go ahead and do a little bird flip and say 'I love you.'" “It was a shot, in my opinion, not at me directly, but at the city of New Orleans and I’m the mayor of the city… to be so disrespectful to the city that has worked so hard to get the privilege of having Mardi Gras, that’s what that was all about. Hopefully that will never happen again." Cantrell's gesture was caught on video and widely distributed on social media. There is no telling if it affected the recall petition signature drive but it happened with just days to go before the deadline to collect signatures.