Adorable 9-year-old Quvenzhane Wallis was nominated for Best Leading Actress last night at the 2013 Oscars for her role in Beasts of the Southern Wild Star. As the show went on last night, everyone did what’s typically done during awards shows in this day and age: comment via your Twitter account. The Onion, a satirical website with witty writers that make up outlandish…yet hilarious…headlines and stories, were no different. Switching up between actual articles and just tweets, The Onion stayed on top of the awards show last night, but when it came to Quvenzhane losing her category, they went way too far. “Everyone else seems afraid to say it, but that Quvenzhané Wallis is kind of a c*nt, right? #Oscars2013,” they wrote. I get that they’re all about humor and satire, but you don’t use that kind of humor on a 9-year-old. Needless to say, MANY were up in arms over the tweet. Their mentions were quickly flooded with angry Twitter users, telling them to take it down, informing them that they’re unfollowing, demanding an apology…you get the idea. Though the tweet sat for quite some time, it was eventually deleted. And finally this morning, an apology was issued. See what they said below. Is it enough?
Via their Facebook page, they wrote:
Feb. 25, 2013
Dear Readers,
On behalf of The Onion, I offer my personal apology to Quvenzhané Wallis and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for the tweet that was circulated last night during the Oscars. It was crude and offensive—not to mention inconsistent with The Onion’s commitment to parody and satire, however biting.
No person should be subjected to such a senseless, humorless comment masquerading as satire.
The tweet was taken down within an hour of publication. We have instituted new and tighter Twitter procedures to ensure that this kind of mistake does not occur again.
In addition, we are taking immediate steps to discipline those individuals responsible.
Miss Wallis, you are young and talented and deserve better. All of us at The Onion are deeply sorry.
Sincerely,
Steve Hannah
CEO
The Onion
