Reaction to c-bomb outrage

The Onion is promising a clampdown on its writers after sparking a Twitter storm over an Oscars gag.

The satirical magazine ignited an outpouring of outrage when it posted a gag about nine-year-old nominee Quvenzhané Wallis during the ceremony.

One of its writers tweeted on the official Onion feed: ‘Everyone else seems afraid to say it, but that Quvenzhané Wallis is kind of a cunt, right?#Oscars2013.’

However, few saw the comedy in using inappropriate language, with thousands taking the message at face value, branding it ‘vile’ and even racist, claiming the gag would never be used with a white child. Such was the strength of reaction that the tweet was deleted within an hour. And now the unnamed staff responsible for the tweet are be disciplined, while The Onion has vowed to ‘tighten up’ its process for publishing such messages.

The Onion’s president and chief executive Steve Hannah published a fulsome apology on the magazine’s Facebook page. It’s thought it may have been the first time the publication has issued such a retraction.

He said: ‘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.

He added: ‘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.’

The vast majority of those who reacted online branded the joke offensive – with Salon website calling it ‘a racially tinged degrading attack on a child’.

However, some defended the gag, and said its detractors had missed the point. Comic Matt Kirshen wrote in a blog: ‘The butt of the joke was her niceness, and the absurdity of the writer’s view. This joke only works because Wallis is 100 per cent blameless; she is the embodiment of innocence.

‘The original joke wasn’t being cruel to her, but the reaction has made it that way.’

Meanwhile, Oscars host Seth Macfarlane has been slammed as ‘legitimising anti-Semitism’ for some of his gags during the ceremony.

At one point his movie character Ted, a talking teddy bear, is told he's got to be Jewish if he wants to work in Hollywood.

He then replied: 'I was born Theodore Shapiro and I would like to donate to Israel and continue to work in Hollywood forever.'

But Abraham Foxman of the Anti-Defamation League, said the sketch was ‘offensive and not remotely funny. 'It only reinforces stereotypes which legitimise anti-Semitism.’

The group’s founder, Rabbi Marvin Hier, added: ''Every comedian is entitled to wide latitude, but no one should get a free pass for helping to promote anti-Semitism.'

Published: 26 Feb 2013