Mag: Couric 'Slapped' Staffer

Drudge Report ^

[CAWats]

CBS EVENING NEWS anchor Katie Couric is being accused of slapping an editor -- after he injected a word she detested into a script!

"The stress has caused her to blow up at her staff for small infractions on the set," charges NEW YORK magazine reporter Joe Hagan, in a story set for publication on Monday.

"During the tuberculosis story in June, Couric got angry with news editor Jerry Cipriano for using a word she detested— 'sputum' —and the staff grew tense when she began slapping him 'over and over and over again' on the arm, according to a source familiar with the scene. It had seemed like a joke at first, but it quickly became clear that she wasn’t kidding."

A top CBS executive tells the DRUDGE REPORT that no formal complaint has been filed against Couric over the incident.

"I sort of slapped him around,” Couric admits to the magazine. “I got mad at him and said, 'You can’t do this to me. You have to tell me when you’re going to use a word like that.' I was aggravated, there's no question about that.' But she says she has a good relationship with Cipriano. 'We did ban the word sputum from all future broadcasts. It became kind of a joke."

A CBS insider says Couric slapped the staffer in a playful manor.

"Look, it wasn't serious, whatsoever."

The magazine fronts the nearly 6,000-word expose with the headline: "I have days when I'm like, 'Oh my God, What did I do?' KATIE COURIC'S IMPOSSIBLE YEAR"

Developing...

[sgtyork]

Excellent point! Words have meanings, even medical words.

[SevenofNine]

OMG she did Bette Davis reset LOL!

[Bon mots]

[golas1964]

She can show the world her colon but she can’t say the word ‘sputum’?

[NewLand]

Imagine if this happened at FoxNews?

[nmh]

What does ‘sputum’ mean?

BTW, liberals have NO self control or boundaries for behavior. They are people that REFUSE TO GROW UP!

[Crawdad]

What rhymes with sputum?

[WorkingClassFilth]

No, you only see an offering of refreshment to a weary soul.

[do the dhue]

Imagine if that were Rush, or Hannity, or Tony Snow,

Or Bobby Knight.

[CAWats]

If she can't use a simple medical term like sputum while reporting about TB, perhaps she is not qualified to report the news

I had never heard of the word 'sputum' before. I need to come out from under the porch more.

[synbad600]

In my medical terminology class no one reacted when we learned that word. (Unlike when we were studying human sexuality in HS. Now that was funny!)

Get a grip, Couric.

[mefistofelerevised]

I have no interest in Couric, but being slapped on the arm is not the same as being slapped in the face. It sounds playfull, not violent or insulting.

[maggief]

[eyedigress]

Bill O’Reilly might slap the bitch back.

[the anti-liberal]

So she slapped the staffer in a "playful manner," (or did they really mean 'manor' - where are they in a studio or in a manor (and what kind - an English manor?), or is the studio in a manor) and on the arm.

And this is news??!!

Jeez.

[toddlintown]

“A CBS insider says Couric slapped the staffer in a playful manor.”

Is that like a field, only smaller?

[operation clinton cleanup]

She can show the world her colon but she can’t say the word ‘sputum’?

Exactly. What happens if she has to report on a volcano spewing lava?

[Screamname]

[weegee]

She repeatedly slapped him and publicly berated him in a “playful manner”. Remember the hissy fit the media threw when Rush Limbaugh suggested that the panties on the head “abuse” at Abu Ghraib was like a fraternity hazing in terms of physical harm?

[do the dhue]

She could find a way to avoid the word sputum.

She could call it mucus spewed while one is hacking. Or she could just call it her nightly broadcast.