NEW ORLEANS - A New Orleans cocktail conference whose founders were criticized for racial insensitivity is being sold.
 
News outlets reported Friday that two New Orleans business owners recently signed a letter of intent to buy Tales of the Cocktail. They say they plan to run the six-day event as a nonprofit organization to benefit the city and industry.
 
In March, conference founder Ann Tuennerman, who is white, was widely criticized after posting video of herself in blackface with an African-American group that parades in blackface on Mardi Gras. She quoted a comment by her husband that many found racially insulting.
 
An apology from the couple and Paul Tuennerman's resignation from the company that runs the festival seemed to calm the controversy. But it reignited after Ann Tuennerman reappointed him.