Annette Sharp: Why media maven Ita won’t cop the F-Word

You may call media icon Ita Buttrose any number of potentially loaded things but don’t, for goodness sake, mention the F-word, writes Annette Sharp.

You may call media icon Ita Buttrose any number of potentially loaded things but don’t, for goodness sake, call her frail.

The former ABC chair was happy to clarify for the record – and readers of this column – why she required a prop when she attended the funeral of her sister-in-law Robyn Elizabeth Buttrose at Rose Bay’s St Mary Magdalene Church on Tuesday.

Ita Buttrose at Rose Bay’s St Mary Magdalene Church .Picture: NewsWire / Simon Bullard

While some news outlets reported Buttrose had to be assisted from a wheelchair outside the church, we can clarify the media legend was in fact photographed with a red mobility walker. Buttrose confirmed she required the apparatus after having recent back surgery.

Ita’s issues are the result of back surgery, she said. Picture: NewsWire / Simon Bullard

“My mobility issues are the result of back surgery. I am definitely not frail Annette,” she said, dropping the F-word that evidently perturbed her.

Meanwhile Fadi Ibrahim, who was shot up outside his Castle Cove house in 2009 in a suspected hit, was spotted at the church brandishing a sling on his left arm, which we gather is related to a collarbone injury.