The Onion on Monday offered an official apology for a crude tweet directed at 9-year-old Oscar nominee Quvenzhané Wallis during the broadcast of the Academy Awards.
In an open letter to readers on the satirical newspaper’s official Facebook page, Steve Hannah, CEO of The Onion, expressed regret over the joke and apologized directly to Wallis, who became the youngest actress ever to be nominated for an Academy Award in the category of best actress for her role in “Beasts of the Southern Wild.” The tweet featured an inflammatory term to describe Wallis and was deleted Sunday night after the backlash online reached fever pitch.
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
