MAG: COURIC 'SLAPPED' STAFFER
Sun Jul 08 2007 19:44:52 ET

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 manner.

"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...

http://drudgereport.com/flash2.htm