The Onion calls Quvenzhane Wallis the c-word, later deletes tweet - UPDATED

We all know The Onion is satire, but this time the fake news organization went way too far. During the Oscars, it sent out a tweet that used the c-word to describe 9-year-old Best Actress nominee Quvenzhane Wallis.

Twitchy, which keeps track of controversial tweets, notes that the Onion’s tweet read, “Everyone else seems afraid to say it, but that Quvenzhané Wallis is kind of a c**t, right? #Oscars2013.”

While the tweet was later deleted, it was met with immediate uproar. One person wrote, “@TheOnion really needs to get their life and APOLOGIZE to that CHILD. She is a CHILD!! And you are WAY out of line.”

According to The Hollywood Reporter, actor Wendell Pierce wants The Onion to identify the writer. “Let him defend that abhorrent verbal attack of a child. You call it humor I call it horrendous,” he tweeted.

Wallis was nominated for her role in Beasts of the Southern Wild, which won widespread critical acclaim. She’s not going anywhere, since just hours before the Oscars on Sunday, she scored the title role in Sony’s new version of Annie. According to The Associated Press, she’s also set to make a small appearance in Twelve Years A Slave.

She also tweets, using a page set up by her parents.

The new Annie is set to open during the 2014 holiday season.

UPDATED: The Onion has issued an apology.

"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," CEO Steve Hannah wrote.

"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."