Tottenham manager Jose Mourinho told a reporter she "didn't deserve an answer" when he was quizzed over why Gareth Bale was not used in the defeat by Chelsea.
Spurs slumped to a 1-0 defeat at the hands of their London rivals on Thursday evening as they slipped further away from the summit of the Premier League, having been considered real contenders not so long ago.
Mourinho's men have lost their last three league fixtures and have fallen down to eighth in the table.
The dip in form coincides with the absence of talismanic striker Harry Kane, who has been sidelined with an ankle injury which he sustained in the loss to Liverpool last week.
Carlos Vinicius was preferred up front against Thomas Tuchel's Blues on Thursday evening, with Bale having had a minimal effect when he was given the nod in the defeat by Brighton on Sunday.
As the game wore on and Spurs looked for a winner, though, Mourinho turned to Lucas Moura and Erik Lamela in a bid to inject some attacking impetus in search of an equaliser.
However, it was to no avail and Chelsea grabbed the 1-0 win.
After the match, reporter Alison Bender queried why Bale was not brought on and she claimed Mourinho hit back at her with the response: "Good question but you don’t deserve an answer."
She later posted that the club's press officer had sought her out and apologised for how the situation was handled, while she also thanked her many followers for offering her words of support after the incident.
Mourinho did, however, offer an explanation about Bale's omission when he was interviewed by BT Sport after the match.
"He [Vinicius] came here to face a difficult challenge and he knew it,” Mourinho told BT Sport.
“As a team guy, he came with that spirit to help the team, especially when Harry Kane is not on the pitch.
"Let's not compare the boys, if we start comparing, it's not an easy thing of course.
“But he has lots of energy, he is a guy with incredible spirit. He is a popular guy in the dressing room, he's a target man.
“The other day we played without a clear target man in attack and tonight we feel we need him. We trust him."
Bale has scored four goals in 15 appearances for Spurs this season.
