‘Not a Difficult Decision’: Major Newspapers Drop ‘Dilbert’ Over Creator Scott Adams’ ‘Discriminatory Comments’
AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez
Multiple newspapers are dropping the Dilbert comic strip from their pages in light of controversial racial remarks from creator Scott Adams in which he advised White people to “get the hell away from Black people.”
The cartoonist, who has made controversial remarks before as part of his vocal support for Donald Trump, shared his latest shocking commentary as part of a series he posts to YouTube titled Real Coffee with Scott Adams.
After the race rant went viral, major newspapers around the country announced they were dropping Adams and his long-running comic strip, specifically citing the comments as the reason.
“Recent discriminatory comments by the creator, Scott Adams, have influenced our decision to discontinue publishing his comic. While we respect and encourage free speech, his views do not align with our editorial or business values as an organization,” the massive USA Today Network told the New York Post on Saturday.
Gannett, the largest newspaper publisher in the country, will not run Dilbert any longer. A number of individual papers also put out statements severing ties with Adams and condemning his comments.
“This is not a difficult decision,” Cleveland Plain Dealer editor Chris Quinn wrote in the announcement his paper was dropping Dilbert. In the announcement, Quinn said they were severing ties due to Adams’ “racist rant.”
Citing a Rasmussen poll that asked the question, “is it okay to be White,” Adams called Black Americans a “hate group” and said that White people should “escape” to communities that have a “very low Black population” because the situation “can’t be fixed.” He made several other assertions in the video.
“It’s a staggering string of statements, all but certain to result in the loss of his livelihood,” wrote Quinn in dropped Adams and the comic strip. “I hate to quote him at all, but I do so to dissuade responses that this is a ‘cancel culture’ decision.”
Adams, meanwhile, defended his comments in tweets on Friday and Saturday.
“A lot of people are angry at me today but I haven’t yet heard anyone disagree,” he wrote. “I make two main points: 1. Treat everyone as an individual (no discrimination). 2. Avoid any group that doesn’t respect you. Does anyone think that is bad advice?”
Adams previously saw multiple newspapers cancel Dilbert in September after a controversial strip that included a Black character who identifies as White.
