Gosh, I hate to break this to you all, but the terribly unfunny, bigoted and outdated cartoon Dilbert will likely not appear in your funny pages anymore. All it took was about a decade of racism and other crimes, followed by a good old-fashioned call for segregation by the creator, Scott Adams. On Saturday, Adams got on his YouTube show that I blissfully didn’t know existed until now and spouted off about a recent Rasmussen poll that said 26% of Black Americans disagreed with the statement “It’s okay to be White.” Nobody who has lived with their head out of the sand had any objection to the poll, except Adams, who called Black people “a hate group” and told White Americans “to get the hell away” from all Black people. So finally, The Washington Post, LA Times, USA Today and several other newspapers yanked Dilbert off their pages by his dumb, upturned tie.
Cartoonist Scott Adams’ comic Dilbert has been pulled from newspapers all over the country following his comments regarding Black Americans.
On Saturday, The Washington Post — along with USA Today’s chain of papers, the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and more outlets across the nation — reported that they will no longer be printing the long-running comic strip after Adams made racist remarks about the results of a Rasmussen poll.
The poll found that 53% of Black Americans agreed with the statement, “It’s okay to be White,” while 26% disagreed and 21% specified they weren’t sure.
Adams, 65, commented on these statistics during a live stream of his YouTube show.
“If nearly half of all Blacks are not okay with White people…that’s a hate group,” he said. “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…because there is no fixing this.”
“I’m also really sick of seeing video after video of Black Americans beating up non-Black citizens,” Adams added, adding that he blames Black people for not “focusing on education.”
On Thursday, the Washington Post received complaints from readers who demanded the strip be pulled. A spokesperson for the outlet said on Saturday, “In light of Scott Adams’s recent statements promoting segregation, the Washington Post has ceased publication of the Dilbert comic strip.”
According to the outlet, Adams told the Post in a text message regarding the cancellation of his comic strip, “Lots of people are angry, but I haven’t seen any disagreement yet, at least not from anyone who saw the context. Some questioned the poll data. That’s fair.”
During his YouTube show Saturday, Adams did just that by attempting to redefine racism as any political activity and that his words were taken out of context.
“Any tax code change is racist,” he said, condemning racism and racist laws against “individuals.” However, he added, “You should absolutely be racist whenever it’s to your advantage. Every one of you should be open to making a racist personal career decision.”
Adams also recognized that his comments would negatively impact his career, saying in the show, “Most of my income will be gone by next week. My reputation for the rest of my life is destroyed. You can’t come back from this, am I right? There’s no way you can come back from this.”
A “Dilbert” television show also began airing on UPN in 1999 until it was cancelled a year later. In June 2020, Adams said the series “was the third job I lost for being White.”
According to the Post, other controversial statements Adams made before the cancellation of his comic included a tweet in January 2022 saying that he planned to “self-identify as a Black woman.” He also said Americans were being brainwashed to support Ukraine and praised anti-vaxxers last month.
In May 2022, Adams added a new character named Dave the Black Engineer in “Dilbert” to mock workplace diversity and transgender politics, the Post reported.
This flipping guy. His comic strip has been a steady stream of white fragility for years. And if anyone tried to defend Dilbert as just an alternate viewpoint, Adams would step up to confirm that no, he really was that hateful and dismissive of anything progressive. It’s shocking he’s been allowed to go on as long as he has. I was stunned he took exception to Trump not condemning white supremacy in 2020. I thought it had finally happened, Scott Adams grew a heart and a few rational braincells. It only took two hours for that illusion to be shattered when he jumped back on Trump’s teat.
I am glad newspapers have yanked Dilbert. I’m not going to applaud them because as you can read, Adams offensives date back long enough it should have been pulled ages ago. I don’t mind political comedy, I don’t even mind conservative political comedy as long as it pinpoints neutral and topical subjects. But racism, sexism, homophobia and everything else Adams sought to perpetuate in his silly little ‘dystopian office space’ kept the world unsafe for someone else. Good riddance.
Photo credit: Instagram and Getty Images
Good. Dilbert is one of the dumbest strips ever created. I doubt the TV series was canceled because he’s “white”. It was likely as boring and unamusing as the strip. They quoted him on the news last night as whining about “freedom of speech” not being honored. It’s always amusing when people say awful things and want their freedom of speech honored but don’t think other people should have the freedom to not want to listen to them.
No government is putting a gun to his head and threatening to kill him for talking. He — like most hysterical, fragile white males — is whining about consequences for his shitty behavior. He is not entitled to a platform.
Moreover, Marc Maron does a great job explaining why so many “comedians” have really been wiped from the slate. It’s because they’re not funny. If they were really funny and talented, there would be room at the table. But oftentimes they’re just unfunny and being shitty, like this tool.
Dilbert was always dumb.
I’ve been up all night and was reading your comment quickly. As I skimmed your words “ he is not entitled to a platform”, my exhausted eyes at first thought it was “he is not entitled to a plantation” and I was shocked. Then I re-read and saw my error, but I kind of think my sleepy brain was telling me me that he would like both a platform and a plantation. Luckily he gets neither. Rascist a$$hole.
Agreed. Dilbert was lame AF. I didnt even know it was still in the comics in the newspaper.
And last I checked, no one was getting arrested or imprisoned for saying dumb shit, as much I would like for some of them to. Freedom of speech is still intact. Somebody tell this idiot.
Yeah. I don’t know if they don’t realize that it is only the government that owes them freedom of speech or if they just assume others are dumb enough to believe they are being persecuted. It’s like whining about “cancel culture” which has always existed but the tables have turned on who gets cancelled.
I find these people always confuse consequences happening to them “because I was white” with “because I was a white racist” as if a 5 min review won’t immediately reveal the word they’ve conveniently forgot about. So yes, let’s continue to discriminate against racists like this one, white or otherwise. And side eye men like Adams who just replace racist with white because they do everyone a disservice acting like those two demographics are a 100% overlap.
About time. His comments are, of course, completely unacceptable, but take note my fellow women: for years preceding this, he was a notorious misogynist who frequently made sexist comments about women. Anybody who’s followed him has known about his right wing bent for years. We should be asking why it’s only now, after years of comments about other vulnerable groups, it was deemed acceptable to pull.
@Veronica- am I correct to surmise that you have known about this guy’s all-around shittiness for a while now?
Did you ever try to call him out, or call him out to his followers?
He’s been called out plenty for it. They were just never any professional consequences for it. It just validates my sense that this country’s issues with sexism are almost as bad as it’s racial divides. They’re just better hidden because of the race and class issues at the forefront of the culture war.
@Annalise I doubt @Veronica S. is in a position to personally cancel his comic strip. What exactly are you suggesting?
This is coming from a place of learning but I’m confused what are Rasmussen polls? I also am confused as to results.. like is he misinterpreting or using them to spout his own backwards theories. Like he’s absolutely wrong in many regards but I was curious about the poll of why being white is not considering being okay… like the actual wording was weird to me
He has said things about Black people for years and Black women are women too!
i also don’t understand the poll. it frankly sounds like made up numbers. how the heck is it not acceptable to be white? you literally cannot change your race/ethnicity. it’s what you do that matters anyways. that applies to everyone. that poll just sounds like it’s trying to make a point to further one specific angle.
It’s a slogan from 4chan that has been used by literal neo nazis to stir up this exact type of controversy, for people to say “so it’s not ok to be white?” And you can see where something like that would lead. I also read that the poll was and online poll which makes it even worse since that data can easily be manipulated.
Also, his ex wife was diagnosed with cancer and she said his response was, oh great, another reason for you to not have sex with me, not sure if that’s a word for word quote but I think you get the picture.
@ Ern, so he’s a despicable human being all around. I’m glad he faced the consequences of his rhetoric. Now let’s start canceling everyone else in his pool of racist hated and vile viewpoint.
K. I have no idea who this guy is and have only heard of Dilbert through American pop culture. I’ve never seen the comic. What I do know is that the poll question (and the entire poll frankly) sounds weird and the Rasmussen Twitter feed reads hella salty and sort of Fox News-ish? Am I imagining this? Why would you even ask people if it’s “okay” to be a certain “race” unless you want to goad people?
The term “It’s Okay to be white” is a right- wing talking point like “All Lives Matter”. Hence why most Black folks had an issue with it.
I’m glad I wasn’t the only one who thought the poll was weird
Thanks to those explaining a bit about the polls and wording
Rasmussen is a very Republican, right-leaning polling outfit.
I am curious to know who participated in this particular poll and where did they get those numbers.
I’ve got nothing for this pinhead.
What kind of foreign trash name is THAT?
His comments are gross and I’m glad he aired them to show us who he really is.
The bright side that I don’t have to be subjected to his stupid comic that I never found funny to begin with. The sad part is that these people are around us and usually spew their hatred behind closed doors so we don’t know who they are.
Many went on record on NPR article saying it’s about time he’s held accountable. So obviously there must have been issues before. I don’t know since I never read his comic. I much prefer Garfield and his never ending quest of lasagna. I can relate to that.
Elon Musk is supporting this guy.
Lol!! Big surprise!! Johnny Depp will probably be next……
I’d be surprised if he wasn’t.
I never ever got that cartoon. I have a friend who falls down laughing every time she reads it and I’m over there all “what?”
To be fair, I ALWAYS laugh myself sick over Bloom County (Giant Purple Snorklewhacker anyone?) and it leaves her cold, so 🤷
I’ve caught a few tones in some of his work that made me go hmmmm more than once over the years. Oh well. Ok bye
Dilbert was funny to a lot of us who worked in those environments – it gave voice to what many of us saw and satirized it. Many, many times my colleagues would read a Dilbert cartoon and wonder if Scott Adams was working alongside us because his commentary was so dead on. But – if you weren’t working for a big corporation, I wouldn’t think you’d find it particularly funny.
That all being said – he is horrible and I’m glad the response was swift. What an idiot – and a gross one at that.
I worked in Corporate America for 15 years. I never found it funny. But I was also a Black woman in corp America. Dilbert reminded me of a lot of the white men I worked with. And not in a funny way.
I think the reason he’s managed to hang on so long was that no one was listening. Everyone forgot he was there. What amazes me is white people’s compulsion not just to be racist, but to let everyone know. He literaly says he’s going to lose everything he built over decades, but goes ahead and does it anyway.
Let’s be real though, he isn’t going to lose a damn thing. Because if you want a career boost or a new revenue stream, just start spouting the most ignorant, racist, sexist, flat earth bullshit you can and you will have every Republican media outlet tripping over themselves to get you a job, get you airtime, get you speaking engagement, put you in a Kevin Sorbo movie and get you a book deal. It’s like flies swarming all over a giant pile of shit.
Maybe the comic strip doesn’t run in newspapers anymore but people are going to spend millions of dollars on Dilbert tee shirts and books now just to “own the libs”. He’s gonna be rich and employed for a long time.
Uuurrrggghhhh you are most definitely probably right. The whole lot of racist, bigoted a-hole dudes will always have a platform with Joe Rogan and Tucker Carlson’s painfully constipated face. Screaming persecution like they’re being actually, physically lynched..
There is Dilbert licensed merch all over the NPR catalog (and probably many others) – he’s not going to “lose everything”.
A friend of mine posted this piece on her social media feed yesterday (she’s publishing the writer’s memoir) by a Black man who was an editor at Intel & hired Adams back when he was first starting out.
https://eugenesrobinson.substack.com/p/when-dilbert-a-former-employee-attacks
That was a very interesting read, thank you!
Well, that’s one way to retire early and let your fans know who you really are …
I always hated Dilbert as a kid because I didn’t get the corporate workplace satire and as I got older, I still didn’t get it. So it was a very unfunny comic with mediocre art and I’m glad it’s getting removed from every newspaper because the creator is a racist idiot. Just as well.
This whole thing is insane. I’ve heard of the comic but because I’m a millennial I have no idea what it’s about or read newspaper comics. What an idiot! Also wtf is this poll? Who is calling up Black people asking them if it’s ok to be white?! That’s really dumb and if it did happen, what the hell?!
It was an invented slogan from 4chan and other white supremacist groups that started appearing on college campuses everywhere: “it’s okay to be white”. It was determined to be a hate group slogan because of the hate groups who created it and were promoting it and the intention behind the slogan. Their idea is that they’re victims of reverse racism. The poll was to see if Black Americans agreed that it was a hate group slogan and a slight majority did. He’s a snowflake butt-hurt white male supremacist and would be a huge joke except these guys have been radicalized and mobilized by the Donald Trump era. There’s a reason they want no gun control.
White people’s obsession with black folks should be studied in school. We literally mind our business, and get the police called on us for going on about our daily lives. This is more mindboggling than anything else. Why can’t we be left alone to strive for better? Why is our presence a threat to others? I really do hate it here.
Oh right….this guy again. My capacity for WTF with Adams was exhausted around the time he publicly explained why he was glad his stepson died (due to a drug overdose)…so he didn’t have to murder him. Seriously, google it.
Anyway, bye, please don’t let door hit you on the way out, etc. 😬
I heard some papers are running a big, grey rectangle rather than having the comic in this week and frankly, I love that.
To be sure, a big grey rectangle is considerably more intelligent and entertaining than anything this sad little misogynist/racist/asshat could possibly come up with.
Wow, insightful in his own area (office shenanigans), but a horrible, mean, racist dolt in all others, I guess.
Took them long enough. He said women wanted to be raped well over a decade ago, and they didn’t care. He’s said all sorts of massively misogynistic things for years and years and they did not care. He finally figured out how to get what he wanted — now he can stop working and just sit back and do his horrible misogynistic racist fascist internet show for applause from other misogynistic racist fascists.
I truly had no idea. I haven’t read the comics section of a newspaper in probably over 20 years, but Dilbert was one where I occasionally snorted in laughter. As a federal employee, a lot of the workplace idiocy resonated with me. I had no idea its creator was this awful excuse for a human being–I’m not sure how I would have found out (I don’t have any SM accounts myself). Dude killed his own career. Good.