CBS EVENING NEWS anchor Katie Couric is being accused of slapping an editor — after he injected the word ’sputum’ into a script!

“The stress has caused her to blow up at her staff for small infractions on the set,” says NEW YORK magazine reporter Joe Hagan.

“During the tuberculosis story in June, Couric got angry with news editor 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.”

“I sort of slapped him around,” Katie admits. “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.”