The Onion apologizes for offensive Quvenzhane Wallis tweet

Best actress nominee Quvenzhane Wallis arrives on the red carpet for the 85th Annual Academy Awards on Feb. 24, 2013, in Hollywood, Calif. / FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP/Getty Images

The Onion is apologizing for calling 9-year-old Oscar nominee Quvenzhane Wallis a vulgar and offensive name on Twitter.

The satirical newspaper on Sunday referred to the "Beasts of the Southern Wild" star with an expletive intended to denigrate women. The Onion was lambasted overnight and asked for forgiveness Monday.

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Quvenzhane Wallis

CEO Steve Hannah wrote: "On behalf of The Onion, I offer my personal apology to Quvenzhane 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," he added.

Hannah said the offensive tweet was taken down in an hour, and the newspaper has "instituted new and tighter Twitter procedures" to ensure it will not happen again.

He said those responsible would be disciplined.

Said Hannah: "Miss Wallis, you are young and talented and deserve better. All of us at The Onion are deeply sorry."

A message sent to Wallis' representative seeking comment wasn't immediately returned.

The Onion's original tweet brought some calls for the fake news organization to publicly identify the writer of the tweet.

The publication says it averages 40 million page views and roughly 7.5 million unique visitors per month. Last year, the site made international headlines when the online version of China's Communist Party newspaper hailed an Onion report naming North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un as the "Sexiest Man Alive" -- apparently unaware it was satire.

[WeseeU]

Whites think white kids are cute no matter WHAT they say or do. You dont bring out your violent hate raps until the kids are BLACK. Dig a ditch for your universalist ******** and jump in after it.

[mecury69]

"As for the Onion, really, calling a 9 year old a c***?! How is that amusing?"

Dude, did you even read the freaking article?

The whole thing is about how it was NOT funny. Duh.

[freshbrood]

Does anyone else see the irony in this? CBS news and the LA Times, as well as every other major news network competing for ratings, rebroadcasting what was said about this little girl over and over again?

If I were 9, I probably wouldn't be aware of such a disgusting and hateful comment having been said about me by such an obscure satirical magazine.

..but my ears certainly would perk up hearing my name mentioned on tv, or seeing it mentioned in a major news network headline.

Hypocrisy, all for the ratings.

[railroadokie]

I'm 63 years old. If this had happend in the 1960's in the media they would have Fired. But this is a fine example of Fascism that has taen control of our country's media. In Germany in the 1930's it was the Jews.

[44LTA]

It was only a matter of time till someone overstepped. The Onion is worthless media.

[sickofwhiners]

The Onion is not media. It is comedy. In this case, they went over the top but everything they do is totally and obviously not intended to be taken seriously.

[mecury69]

The Onion is a comedy outlet, it is not media. It would be prudent to get your facts straight before posting an opinion.

[Beckyewens]

There's nothing funny about calling a child the "C" word.

[mecury69]

Nope, that is why they apologized. Any other words of wisdom?

[Latenightmike]

Most racist don't see themselves as a racist but you are indeed a racist. You think that being somewhat educated and progressive gives you the right to rise above racism but you can't . I wonder it you would make your comments around a group of black people. If you truly could, then you can say it's not a racist statement.

[mecury69]

Blacks are just as racist as any other group.

How many voted for Obama simply because of his ancestry?

Sorry to burst your bubble there sparky, but there is plenty of racism to go around.

[missmedina07]

Like wise MERCURY69, you should get your facts straight when you make comments that African Americans only voted for Obama because he is black. What you are saying is that we, African Americans, have no concept of politics and we are incapable of understanding the views, policies and the direction we would want this nation to take. How ignorant of you, I guess you only voterd for Bush because he too is WHITE!

[Sherrillita]

I missed see the offensive comment. Since it was Tweeted and removed I've seen "Little Q" on TV several times. She has become affected by too much attention and too much phony celebrity praise by the media. Therefore she has behaved more and more obnoxiously EVERY time I've watched her being interviewed. Thank goodness she didn't win the Oscar!

[82ndairbornediv]

Adults attacking kids. Cool.

[Beckyewens]

There's a big difference between calling a child a "Brat" and calling her the "C" word. Sorry, but if you think using the "C" word to describe a child, there's something really wrong with you.