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Dilbert’s three-decade run as a popular workplace comic strip has come to an abrupt halt after its creator, Scott Adams, made racist comments online.
Following his remarks, both his syndication partner and book publisher have cut ties with him, leading to the loss of Dilbert’s newspapers, distributors, and possibly even its website.
This move effectively ends Adams’ career as a published creator, at least for the time being.
The creator of the “Dilbert” comic strip, Scott Adams’ is facing ongoing backlash after making racist comments in a recent YouTube video.
Adams suggested that White people should “get the hell away” from Black Americans, whom he referred to as a “hate group.”
Following this, newspapers across the United States, including The Washington Post, The Plain Dealer, and the USA Today Network, and many others announced that they would no longer carry the comic strip.
Adams made the comments in response to a poll from conservative firm Rasmussen Reports, which found that 53% of Black Americans agreed with the statement, “It’s OK to be White.”
The Anti-Defamation League has noted that the phrase emerged on the message board 4chan in 2017 as part of a trolling campaign and has a history within the white supremacist movement.
Adams has made news for other controversial statements, including questioning the accuracy of the Holocaust death toll.
“If nearly half of all Blacks are not OK with White people – according to this poll, not according to me, according to this poll – that’s a hate group,”
Adams said on his YouTube show “Real Coffee with Scott Adams.”
“I don’t want to have anything to do with them, and I would say, based on the current way things are going, the best advice I would give to White people is to get the hell away from Black people, just get the [censored] away … because there is no fixing this.”
Adams has since claimed on Twitter that he was only “advising people to avoid hate” and suggested that the cancellation of his comic strip signals an assault on free speech in America.
However, newspapers that have cut the comic strip have been clear with readers about their decision.
Chris Quinn, editor of The Plain Dealer, wrote,
“Scott Adams, creator of the Dilbert comic strip, went on a racist rant this week … and we will no longer carry his comic strip in The Plain Dealer. This is not a difficult decision. We are not a home for those who espouse racism.”
In a segment written by NPR’s, Mandalin Del Barco – Adams previously claimed he was a victim of racism in Hollywood and corporate America.
He was also a vocal supporter of Donald Trump. For three decades, he produced his comic strip Dilbert, which satirizes office culture.
According to Andrews McMeel Syndication, Dilbert appeared in 2,000 newspapers in 65 countries and 25 languages.
It doesn’t just end with Dilbert…
The upcoming self-help book by Adams, titled Reframe Your Brain, will no longer be published by Penguin Random House imprint Portfolio.
The publisher had previously announced the title for a September 2023 release, describing it as a guide to rewiring one’s brain for better habits and perspectives.
This would have been Adams’ fifth book published by Portfolio, following Stick to Drawing Comics, Monkey Brain! How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big; Win Bigly: Persuasion in a World Where Facts Don’t Matter; and Loserthink: How Untrained Brains are Ruining America.
Adams has also authored several business advice books based on the Dilbert property, published by Harper Business.
Adams himself announced the cancellation on Twitter, stating that his book agent had also cut ties with him.
Although there was no disagreement about his point of view, his publisher decided to cancel not only his upcoming book but his entire backlist.