The Onion Apologizes For Bad Joke
The Onion has apologized for its bad joke after calling Quvenzhane Wallis, a 9-year-old, the c-word.
The Onion is satirical newspaper specializing in quick-witted commentary and oftentimes mundane articles about nothing, but usually always funny. However, its tweet last night did not go over well after a bad joke calling 9-year-old Oscar-nominee Quvenzhane Wallis the c-word.
According to The Atlantic Wire, the tweet stayed up for about an hour until it was deleted. The Onion did not offer an explanation at the time for why the tweet was removed. Certain Twitter news reporters ran with the story, including the sudden unexplained update.
Michelle Malkin’s Twitchy expressed the disappointment with this headline:
“Tasteless: The Onion calls 9-year-old actress Quvenzhane Wallis a c**t; Update: tweet is deleted”
The Twitchy Team also added the tweet:
“Disgusted readers unfollow The Onion after vile tweet sliming 9-year-old actress …”
Michelle Malkin and Keith Olbermann actually saw eye to eye for once, and that’s a rarity. Olbermann tweeted:
“Half-heard story of @TheOnion tweet; assumed I heard wrong. No; they DID wrong. Retract, apologize, dismiss …”
As previously reported by The Inquisitr, The Onion‘s bad joke was simply uncalled-for.
Maria Puente of USA Today gave her explanation on The Onion‘s bad joke and the internet’s response to it:
“The Onion is notorious for its cutting satire, but it’s usually at least a little funny. But, as a zillion tweets kept repeating, this remark wasn’t funny.”
Eventually, The Onion owned up and apologized for their error in the poorly-worded bad joke:
“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”
Was The Onion‘s apology for their bad joke enough, or do you think further reparations need be made?
Disgusted readers unfollow The Onion after vile tweet sliming 9-year-old actress bit.ly/W5StRF
— TwitchyTeam (@TwitchyTeam) February 25, 2013
Half-heard story of @theonion tweet; assumed I heard wrong. No; they DID wrong. Retract, apologize, dismiss buzzfeed.com/kateaurthur/th…
— Keith Olbermann (@KeithOlbermann) February 25, 2013
We got that @theonion was making fun of our celeb-obsessed, celeb-jealous, celeb-dissing culture and not Quevenzhane Wallis, right?
— Joel Stein (@thejoelstein) February 25, 2013
