[6] Then, in April 2024, G/O Media sold The Onion to Global Tetrahedron, a firm newly created by former Twilio CEO Jeff Lawson, which revived the print edition in August that year.

The publication's humor often depends on presenting mundane, everyday events as newsworthy, surreal, or alarming, such as "Rotation Of Earth Plunges Entire North American Continent Into Darkness".

Former editorial manager Chet Clem believed this to be plausible, recollecting also in a 2007 interview that their food budget was so low when they started the paper that they were down to white bread and onions.

In the same Spectator News interview, graphic editor Mike Loew forwarded the theory an "onion" was 1930s newspaper slang for a "juicy, multi-layered story".

The onion sandwich theory had been referenced in many news sources when then editor-in-chief Cole Bolton, during a 2021 event at the University of Chicago, called that story "the dumbest explanation" and asserted that it is likely wrong.

[17][18] In 1989, Keck and Johnson sold the paper to Scott Dikkers, who had been contributing cartoons; Peter Haise, a lead advertising rep; and Jonathan Hart Eddy, the IT person, for $16,000[19][17][18] ($19,000 according to some sources).

The bottom three inches were reserved as ad space for coupons that were typically purchased by local, student-centered or inexpensive establishments, such as eateries and video rental stores.

[30] In 1995, Dave and Jeff Haupt sold their shares of Cisco Systems and they cut a deal with then-publisher Peter Haise for rights to The Onion name for 10 years in exchange for a one-time $25,000 licensing fee to open a franchise in Denver, Colorado.

[36][37][38] In a 2002 interview, then-editor in chief Rob Siegel said,[39] "If you look at the breakdown of people who read The Onion online, it's like Microsoft, Dell Computers, the Department of Justice and then, like, University of Wisconsin.

[4][37][38] In the fall of 1996, Ben Karlin, who had been a writer/editor for the publication since graduating from the University of Wisconsin in 1993, moved to Los Angeles and joined other former Onion staff members to create a pilot for a news parody titled Deadline: Now for the Fox Network.

[57][58][59] In the wake of the book's success, networks such as HBO and NBC were in talks to bring The Onion to TV with a special based on Our Dumb Century.

[24] Despite nearly two years of work spent on conceiving and producing Our Dumb Century, the writers received only bonuses of a few thousand dollars[citation needed], despite the fact that the two-book publishing deal netted The Onion $450,000.

[24][57][58][59] In April 2000, DreamWorks Studios optioned two stories from the satirical newspaper, "Canadian Girlfriend Unsubstantiated"—which was to be written by former Onion editor and writer Rich Dahm—and "Tenth Circle Added to Rapidly Growing Hell" with an eye toward producing the latter as a family comedy.

[76][77] In November 2002, a humorous op-ed piece in The Onion that was satirically bylined by filmmaker Michael Bay titled "Those Chechen Rebels Stole My Idea"[78] was removed from the site without explanation.

[89] In June 2006, it was also announced that Siegel had been tapped by Miramax Films to write the screenplay for a comedy titled "Homeland Insecurity" which was slated to be about a pair of Arab-Americans who are mistaken for terrorists while traveling to Texas.

"[16][118][119][120] Additionally, in March 2012 more insight into the internal issues surrounding the Chicago move—including an attempt made by the writers to find a new owner—are explored by articles in The Atlantic Wire[121] and New York magazine's Daily Intelligencer.

"[117][121][122][123][124] In August 2012, it was announced that a group of former The Onion writers had teamed up with Adult Swim to create comedy content on a website called Thing X.

[133] Additionally, in a memo addressing potential sale rumors provided to Walt Mossberg's tech site Re/code Onion CEO Steve Hannah states, "We have had follow-up conversations with numerous parties in recent months.

"[139] In January 2016, Univision Communications purchased a 40% stake in Onion, Inc. "As an independent media company, we've always been forced to run a tight financial ship, which has made us smart and lean, but not always ready to invest in the great new ideas that we come up with," Mr. McAvoy said in a memo to staff.

Serious Business is a production company run by former UTA Online co-founder Jason U. Nadler, @midnight co-creator Jon Zimelis and writer/producer Alex Blagg.

Corporate parent Univision Communications is said to be looking to reduce the staff of the humor publication by around 15% amidst news of a pending sale of The Onion and related websites as well as Gizmodo Media Group assets.

[174][175] In August 2011, the Writers Guild of America, East, AFL–CIO, announced the unionization of the Onion News Network writing staff, averting a potential strike which hinged on pay and benefits.

[188] Series produced were: The Onion Movie is a direct-to-video film written by then-Onion editor Robert D. Siegel and writer Todd Hanson and directed by Tom Kuntz and Mike Maguire.

[194] In the spring of 2014, former president, publisher, and CEO of The Onion Peter Haise filed a lawsuit Palm Beach County court against the publication's current chairman David K. Schafer regarding a missing "Executive Producer" credit on the failed film.

Noreen Malone characterized the publication as having a left-leaning outlook by stating:The best op-eds in the country are written by the staff of The Onion, though they're often published as news articles.

In May 2019, the former Onion editor Joe Garden published an op-ed in Vice to express his regret over the character, which he felt had distracted from serious concerns about Biden's political record and personal behavior.

[232] In 2017, President Donald Trump expressed confidence that his son-in-law Jared Kushner, whom he had just appointed as an advisor on foreign affairs, could bring peace to the Middle East.

[237] CEO Steve Hannah issued an apology to Wallis and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, calling the remarks "crude and offensive" and "No person should be subjected to such a senseless, humorless comment masquerading as satire.

"[237][238][239][240] On June 16, 2017, The Onion featured an article describing professional wrestler The Big Show being killed by WWE after a seven-year-old boy wandered into a steel cage during a live event in Indianapolis.

The article, meant to lampoon the real-life killing of Harambe, a gorilla in a Cincinnati zoo, received criticism for satirizing the murder of an actual person as well as leading some fans to believe Big Show was dead.