Couric Slapping Cipriano

“COURIC ‘SLAPPED’ STAFFER” was Drudge’s headline last night. It referred to this scene in New York’s profile of Katie Couric:

“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.”

Drudge quotes a top CBS exec who says “it wasn’t serious, whatsoever.”

Did this slapping incident happen after the newscast? If so, that suggests that Couric isn’t reading her copy before she goes on air…

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