Poll: Did The Onion take it too far in their tweet about Oscar nominee Quvenzhane Wallis?

Actress Quvenzhane Wallis attends the 'Beasts of the Southern Wild' premiere during the 56th BFI London Film Festival at the Odeon West End on October 12, 2012 in London, England. (Getty Images)

Satirical magazine The Onion has some form when it comes to being taken a little too seriously. Remember when Chinese The People's Daily mistook and article in The Onion declaring Kim Jong Un the sexiest man alive for the real thing?

This time the paper are in trouble for the following Oscar night tweet about universally adored 9-year-old Best Actress nominee Quvenzhane Wallis:

@TheOnion: "Everyone else seems afraid to say it, but that Quvenzhane Wallis is kind of a c**t, right? #Oscars2013" [the asterisks are ours]

It was a joke based on the taboo of calling an innocent child something so horrible, but for many, in this instance the "joke defence" didn't cut it.

Actor Wendell Pierce, best known for playing Bunk in The Wire was most vocal in his condemnation. Pierce hails from New Orleans, which is also Wallis' hometown and the setting for her nominated film, Beasts of the Southern Wild

@WendellPierce: "Identify the writer. Let him defend that abhorrent verbal attack of a child. You call it humor I call it horrendous."

After an hour of the backlash, The Onion deleted the offending tweet

So what do you think? Clearly a joke? Or an "abhorrent verbal attack of a child"?