The Onion Issues Facebook Apology After Calling Actress, 9, The 'C-Word'
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — Hours after calling 9-year-old "Beasts of the Southern Wild" actress Quvenzhané Wallis a derogatory name over Twitter, The Onion has apologized.
The satirical online newspaper called the Best Actress nominee the "c-word" in a tweet Sunday night.
"Everyone else seems afraid to say it, but that Quvenzhané Wallis is kind of a c**t, right? #Oscars2013"
The tweet was posted around 8:45 p.m., but was deleted hours later after it received severe backlash over the social medium.
On Monday morning, Steve Hannah, the CEO of The Onion, posted the following on the website's Facebook page:
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
