In a rare departure from satire, The Onion has issued a sincere apology for a tweet posted on its official Twitter account Sunday night that called 9-year-old Best Actress nominee Quvenzhané Wallis an offensive slur.

Steve Hannah, the CEO of Onion, Inc., posted a letter apologizing on the fake news outlet's official Facebook page.

    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.

You can read the rest of the apology here.

The tweet in question, which was posted during the live broadcast of the Academy Awards ceremony, posed the sarcastic question that many felt crossed the line: "Everyone else seems afraid to say it, but that Quvenzhané Wallis is kind of a c--t, right? #Oscars2013". (The original tweet did not censor the slur.)

The tweet was deleted about an hour later after enormous social media backlash.

Hannah went on to say that The Onion has "instituted new and tighter Twitter procedures to ensure that this kind of mistake does not occur again," and that the individuals responsible for the tweet have been disciplined accordingly. (The Onion does not publicly credit individual writers for articles or jokes.)

This public apology is a change from how The Onion typically addresses controversy. The humor outlet rarely "breaks character" in the face of outcry, such as when they ran satirical coverage of a shooter in Washington, D.C. in 2011 that alarmed many residents. At the time, a spokesperson for the company simply said, "This is satire. That's how it works."

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Between "Saturday Night Live," "South Park," Adult Swim and his various film roles, chances are Bill Hader had a hand in almost every comedy thing you've liked in recent years. This week on Bill Simmons' B.S. Report podcast, he dished on all of that plus his first encounter with Bill Murray, Jon Hamm's knockout "SNL" debut, and Stefon's secret to success.

Hader, now in his seventh season on "SNL" (his contract is up after next year) revealed a lot about how the show has shaped his comedic style throughout his life. When he was nine years old, he honed his timing by quoting Phil Hartman's Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer sketches and other bits, like a kid who plays "Stairway To Heaven" over and over again to learn guitar. The John Lovitz and Dana Carvey years were "his cast" but it was really Hartman, the show's best straight-man, who inspired him the most comedically.

Hader also praised the "SNL" hosts like Justin Timberlake who understand the notion that you don't really "act" on "SNL," you perform. He went on at length about Jon Hamm, who has only hosted three times but has become "Like A Baldwin" on the show. Hader cited his first time hosting on Halloween in 2010 as, "one of the best times I've ever had on the show."

And Hamm wasn't just fun to work with. According to Hader he was thrown a big curveball between dress rehearsal and showtime when Lorne Michaels was less than pleased with his Dean Martin impression in "Vincent Price's Halloween Special" featuring with Hader. Lorne asked Hamm what other characters he could do, and Hamm said he could do James Mason. That's why in the version that aired, below, Hamm ends up telling Dean Martin jokes with a James Mason accent. The costume and writing stayed the same. Simmons and Hader joked that Mason, who isn't exactly known for being a misogynistic drunk who wets his pants, was probably pretty confused and/or offended by the sketch:

Gallagher's manager, Christine Scherrer, has told The Huffington Post that the comedian is currently in an induced coma and will remain so for the next 24 hours to relax and recover. She said his family is with him and, according to his doctors, all signs are good.

His performance dates for this weekend and next have been rescheduled but upcoming dates remain in place. Scherrer also said that Gallagher had been in excellent health since his previous heart attack last year. This is the first incident since that time.

On Wednesday night, Gallagher did a meet-and-greet with his fans prior to his scheduled show at Hat Tricks in Lewisville, Texas, and suffered a heart attack in his green room before taking the stage.

Previously:
According to his management company Too Fun Promotions, Gallagher, the iconic and often polarizing comedian who made a name for himself by smashing watermelons with a sledge hammer during his shows, is currently hospitalized after suffering a heart attack.

The comedian was scheduled to perform at Hat Tricks in Lewisville, Texas, when, shortly before his performance, he began to suffer severe chest pains and was rushed to the hospital, where he remains for the time being, according to TMZ.

The comedian has become a somewhat controversial figure in the comedy community in recent years, coming under fire for some of his material, and famously walking out of his appearance on Marc Maron's beloved WTF Podcast. Despite that, he still commands sold-out audiences across the country and tours continuously.

Gallagher suffered an earlier heart attack almost exactly a year ago while performing on stage at Whiskey Bone's Roadhouse in Rochester, Minn. In a video of the incident, Gallagher is seen collapsing immediately after smashing what appears to be a bottle of ketchup.

Two weeks later, at a performance in Boca Raton, Fla., he explained to his audience, "I almost died two weeks ago ... these are extra days that I've been given. I guess God said, 'Wait a minute, Boca ain't had their show yet.' So it's not me, it's God's will we have this show tonight." He continued, "You can like God all you want to but I'm pissed at him ... I had a heart attack while I was doing sledge-o-matic, which is gonna look great in the paper. But now I could die doing something stupid and my story won't be as cool."

It's Wednesday, which means we've got seven more sites to inject some fun your afternoon. We know you technically should work on that thing that's due tomorrow, but you can peruse the list first. It'll be our secret.
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