Post-Oscar drama around The Onion’s tweet directed at kid actress

The Onion is known to routinely raise the comedic bar through satirical reporting yet can they take it too far?

During the Oscar’s last night, The Onion tweeted about the young 9-year-old, Oscar nominated actress Quvenzhane Wallis. She was the star in the movie Beasts of the Southern Wild and was the blunt of a joke created by the satirical news source. On Twitter, @TheOnion made a joke that involved calling the child actor a “c–t” as many twitter users were enraged with the message going as far as creating a petition demanding a retraction and apology from the satirical newspaper.

The staff at the Onion was clearly trying to be funny yet many aren’t sure if they achieved their goal. This morning because of being responsible people, and probably not because of the petition The Onion CEO Steve Hannah posted an apology to the young actress.

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.

What’s your take on the Tweet? Good? Bad? Indifferent? Sound off in the comments.