UPDATE 2/25/13, 12:21 p.m.: The CEO of The Onion, Steve Hannah, issued the following apology about the c*nt tweet about 45 minutes ago via Facebook:

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

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Known for their risque satire, popular website The Onion pushed the envelope too far Oscar Night by calling 9-year-old Oscar nominee Quvenzhané Wallis a “c*nt” on Twitter.

RELATED: ‘Beasts Of The Southern Wild’ Star Quvenzhane Wallis Cast As ‘Annie’

Nominated for her break-out role in “Beast of the Southern Wild,’ the future A-Lister, recently tapped to reprise the role of “Annie,” continues to woo hearts all over Tinsel Town. The Onion attacked Wallis on Twitter, showing that they had forgotten what satire means with their distasteful and unimaginative remarks:

https://twitter.com/TheOnion/status/305900584278556672

Twitter instantly exploded:

Look, I get comedy. I get satire. But what @TheOnion said about a 9-year-old girl nominated for an Oscar is atrocious. — rolandsmartin (@rolandsmartin) February 25, 2013

The Onion actually generates revenue to pay salaries. Here's their contact http://t.co/w1oEPqoa1l should you feel inclined… — dream hampton (@dreamhampton) February 25, 2013

Would the @TheOnion say the same thing if the individual celebrity in question was Caucasian? This is a legitimate question. — Abiyomi Kofi (@TheAngryindian) February 25, 2013

Quvenzhane Wallis is a nine year old woman of colour. Let's let what @TheOnion did sink in and remember that Dakota Fanning never had this. — Elizabeth Hawksworth (@liz_hawksworth) February 25, 2013

A racist/sexist/misogynistic joke about a child isn't "OK" or "acceptable" just because @TheOnion is known for satire and off-color jokes. — April (@ReignOfApril) February 25, 2013

Step 1: Unfollow @TheOnion. Step 2: Email their editors. Step 3: Bum rush their FB page. Step 4: Stop reading. Maybe then they'll listen. — Awesomely Luvvie (@Luvvie) February 25, 2013

@TheOnion Identify the writer. Let him defend that abhorrent verbal attack of a child. You call it humor I call it horrendous. — Wendell Pierce (@WendellPierce) February 25, 2013

The tweet has been deleted, but outraged Twitter users have taken screenshots of their feed at the time of the comment.

Of course, we all know what the Onion was going for, but they failed miserably and this is not going away.

Our Black girls deserve to cherished, respected, and protected just as much as their White counterparts. Before it’s all said and done, ‘The Onion’ will understand this is not a game.

Sound off!

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