Quvenzhane Wallis Called the "C" Word by The Onion on Oscar Night, Website Under Fire

USMagazine, Monday, February 25, 2013, 11:50am (PST)

Seth MacFarlane isn't the only one who's in the dog house following some inappropriate remarks at the Oscars on Sunday, Feb. 24. Satirical news site The Onion is also coming under fire after it shared an offensive tweet about 9-year-old Best Actress nominee Quvenzhane Wallis, calling the pint-sized actress the "C" word.

"Everyone else seems afraid to say it, but Quvenzhane Wallis is kind of a c--t, right?" the tweet read. Followers immediately slammed the site for its insensitive, inappropriate remark, and the comment was deleted an hour later.

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"Identify the writer. Let him defend that abhorrent verbal attack of a child," one user wrote. "You call it humor I call it horrendous."

"The Onion was tasteless for that tweet," another wrote. "It's never okay to use that word towards anyone, especially someone's child."

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Twelve hours later, The Onion CEO Steve Hannah issued an uncharacteristic apology on its website and on its Facebook page, acknowledging that the remarks were "crude and offensive."

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

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Wallis, who lost out on an Oscar to Silver Lining Playbook's Jennifer Lawrence, was also referenced during the Oscars ceremony itself. MacFarlane, who pushed the envelope with his own outrageous jokes numerous times throughout the show, gave a nod to Wallis as he took a shot at George Clooney during his opening monologue.

"To give you an idea of how young she is, it'll be 16 years before she's too young for Clooney," he joked of the Beasts of the Southern Wild actress.

This article originally appeared on Usmagazine.com: Quvenzhane Wallis Called the "C" Word by The Onion on Oscar Night, Website Under Fire