The Onion Apologizes For 'Crude And Offensive' Tweet About 9-Year-Old Oscar Nominee Quvenzhané Wallis

On Sunday night, The Onion's tweet about nine-year-old Oscar nominee Quvenzhané Wallis. The tweet was then deleted after an hour ' but the criticism online persisted. In response, on Monday morning, CEO Steve Hannah apologized for the 'crude and offensive' comment.

RELATED: Following Backlash, The Onion Deletes Tweet Calling 9-Year-Old Oscar Nominee A 'C**t'

Shortly after their tweet ' which read: 'Everyone else seems afraid to say it, but that Quvenzhané Wallis is kind of a cunt, right? #Oscars2013' ' there was no shortage of criticism, with many deeming the attempt at satire to be tasteless and inappropriate.

Hannah posted the following apology on The Onion's Facebook page, noting that Wallis deserves better:

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.

Wallis was nominated for her role in Beasts of the Southern Wild.