The popular workplace humor cartoon series “Dilbert” is being removed from major newspaper publications as its creator undergoes backlash for what The Cleveland Plain Dealer called a “racist rant.”
Scott Adams is known as the creator of Dilbert, which had been published by The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, USA Today and hundreds more.
On Wednesday’s YouTube episode of “Real Coffee with Scott Adams,” Adams viewed the results of a Rasmussen Poll, asking viewers to agree or disagree with the phrase “It’s OK to be white,” as reported by The Associated Press.
Most agreed, but Adams focused his comments on the 26% of Black respondents who disagreed.
He said during the program, “that’s a hate group, and I don’t want to have anything to do with them,” adding that it “makes no sense to help Black Americans if you’re white,” per The New York Times.
AP reported that the phrase “It’s OK to be white” was used in 2017 as part of a white supremacist movement, but Adams never commented on that aspect during the show and said in a later episode that he was only making a point that “everyone should be treated as an individual.”
After his remarks, the cartoon distributer, Andrews McMeel Universal, and hundreds of newspapers announced they would no longer publish Dilbert because of its creator’s “discriminatory comments,” per The New York Times.
“Andrews McMeel Universal values free speech,” said the company’s statement. “But we will never support any commentary rooted in discrimination or hate.”
The Deseret News announced Monday that it will no longer publish the comic.
On Sunday, Adams tweeted about what he called a “fake news bubble” and asked for people to get “full context” by watching the original video.
On Monday, Adams tweeted that for now, it’s “not likely” that Dilbert.com will be available after all the backlash, putting a standstill on a cartoon that’s existed for decades.