The Onion News, the satirical news website has apologized for posting a vulgar tweet about 9-year-old Oscar nominee Quvenzhane Wallis.
The Onion really stepped out of the line and posted a tweet calling Quvenzhane Wallis the c-word.
During the Acadamy Awards, the Onion was running wild with crazy tweets, but it seems to had lost control finally posting a harsh message about the “Beasts of the Southern Wild Star”.
“Everyone else seems afraid to say it, but that Quvenzhané Wallis is kind of a c*nt, right? #Oscars2013,” the tweet read.
Users immediately revolted against the tweet. The Onion finally understanding the extent of damage deleted the tweet and later apologized to Quvenzhane Wallis.
“The Onion was tasteless for that tweet. It’s never okay to use that word towards anyone, especially someone’s child,” one user wrote.
“Calling a 9 year old child a c-word in one of the biggest nights of her life was going too far even for the onion. Classless,” another echoed.
Some users even pledged to stop subscribing to The Onion’s Twitter feed.
“@TheOnion Unfollowing you. Your tweet about a 9-yr-old child was stunningly inappropriate. That’s not satire or a joke. That’s sick.”
Others called for the site to apologize.
“An apology is due to Miss Wallis. Deleting the tweet does not make it go away. Would The Onion let this die if a celeb had said it?”
And it seems The Onion heard that message loud and clear. At about 11:30 a.m. on Monday the site posted an apology on its Facebook and Twitter pages. You can read the apology here.
In a rare moment of seriousness for the publication, Steve Hannah, CEO of The Onion, called the tweet a mistake and said the site had already “instituted new and tighter Twitter procedures.”
He acknowledged that the comment was “crude and offensive—not to mention inconsistent with The Onion’s commitment to parody and satire, however biting.”
“In addition, we are taking immediate steps to discipline those individuals responsible,” Hannah wrote. “Miss Wallis, you are young and talented and deserve better. All of us at The Onion are deeply sorry.”