Katie Couric attends the Museum Of Television & Radio's seminar on network news and today's evolving news audience November 13, 2006 in New York City.
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CelebNews@Usmagazine.com! - Katie Couric Gets Slap-Happy With Coworker

You’d think it would take a lot to make the preternaturally perky news anchor Katie Couric mad – but it turns out all it takes is one word: Sputum.

In the new issue of New York magazine, Couric admits to slapping news editor Jerry Cipriano on the arm “over and over and over again” after he used the word sputum – which she hates -- in her presence (the definition is “matter that is coughed up from the respiratory tract, such as mucus or phlegm, mixed with saliva and then expectorated from the mouth).

According to New York, falling ratings on CBS Evening News (which now brings in 5.5 million viewers down from the 13.5 million that tuned in for Couric’s debut) have caused the stressed out anchor to lash out at her coworkers.

Sure, the word is disgusting, but enough to turn a peppy woman semi-violent?

“I sort of slapped him around,” Couric, 50, confirms. “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 the two eventually resolved their differences, although you won’t hear the word “sputum” on the program any time soon.

“We did ban the word sputum from all future broadcasts,” she says. “It became kind of a joke.”

See more interview highlights below as the former Today show talks wardrobe changes, taking a hit in the press, and what the future holds…

On toning down her wardrobe for CBS:
“I try to give them as little to talk about as possible, without becoming Pat on Saturday Night Live.”

On her perky image:
“I think that bugs people even more, that I’m not a woman on the verge of a nervous breakdown. It’s probably disappointing to some people.”

On media criticism:
“I’ve gone through a bit of a feeding frenzy and there’s blood in the water and I’ve got some vulnerabilities. This person who’s been successful isn’t so great, and finally she’s been put in her place—that kind of mentality. I think it’s fairly primal.”

On her CBS coworkers allegedly leaking negative stories about her to the press:
“It’s damaging, and it’s really tacky.And I would be so embarrassed to be one of these petty, behind-the-scenes operators who get some kind of charge out of trashing someone. I’m not perfect; I’m sure I’ve said unkind things about people in my career and life, but people getting their jollies from seeing it in print is so creepy and weird to me. And if you’re so unhappy, get another job!”

On the future:
“If it turns out [the job] wasn’t a perfect fit, then, you know, I’ll do something else that’s really exciting and fulfilling for me.”

On whether she regrets jumping to CBS:
“I mean, of course. I’m human. I’m not going around, ‘Dee-da dee-da dee.’ I have days when I’m like, ‘Oh my God, what did I do?’ But for some weird reason, they don't happen that often.”

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