Physically Abusive Katie Couric and Miss Piggy

I've known this for years, so this comes as no surprise to me.

Joe Hagan's New York magazine cover story on Katie Couric provides a disturbing glimpse into the CBS anchorwoman's personality.

Back when I watched the Today show, a LONG time ago, I detected a pattern during the Katie Couric era.

The woman is physically abusive.

Her on camera antics, slaps and punches, were supposedly playful. They were frequent, and I found them annoying and inappropriate.

One morning, in 1998, she stepped over the line. Couric attacked Miss Piggy.


Couric loses control.

Yes, Miss Piggy can push people to the limit. She is a conceited pig and has a serious attitude problem.

But that's no excuse for Couric to attack. Producers should have known that Piggy and Couric on the same set was a dangerous mix. Sparks were bound to fly.

Obviously, it was a light-hearted segment; but still, at the time, I was taken aback to see Couric, mother of two, joke around in that fashion.

Violently choking Miss Piggy was weird. It wasn't all in good fun.

A day or so later, Couric did apologize on-air for the incident. I remember that she directed her comments to the younger viewers in the audience, maybe including her own children. When the muppets are on the Today show, kids that happen to be in the room do pay attention to the TV.

Miss Katie said that it was always wrong to act out violently and she shouldn't have assaulted Miss Piggy. In other words, "Kids, don't try this at home. Do as I say, not as I do."

That all played out nearly a decade ago.

Is it a surprise that Couric would do behind the scenes what she was so quick to do on camera?

Couric seems determined not to let anyone see her suffer, but according to several people familiar with the situation, she is privately frustrated (“Going through hell,” says one producer) and moody about the ratings. The stress has caused her to blow up at her staff for small infractions on the set. 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.

“I sort of slapped him around,” Couric 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.”

That's what they all say.

Couric shouldn't be expressing her aggravation in physical outbursts. It's not professional.

Would Walter Cronkite have slapped a staff member, over sputum? I doubt it. He was too busy making up stuff about the Tet Offensive to get freaked out about sputum.

Dan Rather? Maybe. I can picture him raising his hand in anger like Couric.

Bob Schieffer? No.

In any event, I think an intervention for Couric is in order. Actually, it's long overdue.

A is for Anger management.