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That Scott Adams (1967), cartoonist and creator of the comic strip Dilbert is a loudmouth, among other things, is no secret. Moreover, he has been receiving an inordinate amount of attention from a large part of the press for some time now. There is no bullshit that Adams spouts on his Youtube channel or Twitter account that hasn't ended up as a headline in the media.
Background
Here's a quick review of some of the more recent stupidities spouted by this character, a reference point for some Trump conspiracy theorists, such as Peter Navarro, White House trade adviser during the Trump administration.
I remember when he he said that he had lost three jobs because he was white and because of his gender or when he claimed that the Black Lives Matter protests were happening because of films like "Joker". Or when he applauded the kidnappings of protesters by federal police in Portland.
While this is not an exceptional situation, because in September last year 77 media outlets of the Lee Enterprises group had already cancelled the strip because of its content, this time the number of media outlets cancelling the strip is in the hundreds. Now they are doing so because of the author's opinions that are unrelated to the content of his strips.
Racist discourse
The cause was a racist speech that the cartoonist made on Youtube in which he describes the black population as a "hate group" and says that he has moved to get away from them and encourages"whites" to do the same to stay away from blacks.
The racist diatribe Adams constructs is based on his twisted conclusions about this Rasmunssen poll. You can listen to this rubbish starting at minute 13:24 of the video in question on his Real Coffee with Scott Adams channel.
"My reputation is destroyed for life."
New media continue to add to the cancellation of his comic strip and the cartoonist has already said in statements to Reuters that"by Monday, it should be mostly cancelled. So most of my income will be gone by next week". "My reputation is destroyed for life. There is no going back."
I don't know if this is a complaint from Adams or a simple realisation of the consequences of his openly racist speech, although it has all the hallmarks of a further flight forward and another crude attempt to victimise himself.
He himself has destroyed his already tarnished reputation thanks to his habitual racist diatribes and his speeches with constant nods to the white supremacism he has been spewing for years. There is no room here for whining about an unfair "cancellation culture". It is time for him to face up to the fact that his actions have consequences. This is not about a joke. This is not about censorship, if you are a racist don't expect applause.
This case, from the media response, reminds me a bit, albeit with obvious and notable differences, of Willey Miller who for much less lost half his clients, his house and had to move his family to another state. The reason was a tiny "Easter egg" with an insult to Donald Trump that the cartoonist placed in one of the cartoons of his popular series Non Sequitur.
Some media that have cancelled "Dilbert"
This list includes only some media that have decided to dispense with Scott Adams' work and his explanations.
It is not a definitive or complete list because others will most likely continue to join and some may do so without a public announcement.
The Plain Dealer (Cleveland)
We are withdrawing the Dilbert strip due to the racist statements of its creator, Scott Adams: Letter from the director
Chris Quinn. Editor of cleveland.com/The Plain Dealer
Scott Adams, creator of the Dilbert comic strip, made a racist speech this week on his show Real Coffee with Scott Adams, and we will no longer publish his comic strip in The Plain Dealer.
It's not a difficult decision.
Adams said blacks are a hate group, citing a recent Rasmussen poll that he said shows nearly half of blacks disagree with the phrase "It's OK to be white."
"I would say, based on the way things are currently going, the best advice I would give to white people is to stay away from black people," he says in the video.
In the video he says many more, mostly racist and hateful things, which can be seen on Youtube. It is a string of astonishing statements, which are sure to kill his livelihood. I hate to quote him, but I do so to dissuade responses that claim this is a "cancellation culture" decision.
No, it is a decision based on the principles of this newsroom and the community we serve. We are not a home for those who espouse racism. And we certainly don't want to provide them with financial support.
Adams' reprehensible statements come during Black History Month, when The Plain Dealer has been running stories about the work being done by many people to overcome the damage caused by racist decisions and policies.
We are not the first newspaper to sideline Dilbert. Last year, according to The Daily Beast, 77 papers published by Lee Enterprises dropped him after Adams introduced his first black character, ostensibly to mock "woke" culture and the LGBTQ community. We are part of Advance Local, and the heads of all Advance Local newsrooms have independently made the same decision as we have to stop publishing the strip. This includes newspapers in Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Alabama, Massachusetts and Oregon.
The USA TODAY
The USA TODAY Network/Gannett
At Gannett, we lead with inclusion and strive to maintain a respectful and equitable environment for the diverse communities we serve across the country.
"The USA TODAY Network will cease publication of the Dilbert comic due to recent discriminatory statements by its author."
Advance Local's MLive Media Group
Scott Adams cancels himself and 'Dilbert' comic with racist social media tirade
John Hiner. Vice President of Content for Advance Local's MLive Media Group.
Scott Adams, the increasingly controversial creator of the "Dilbert" comic strip, launched an unmitigated racist attack in a video broadcast this week. As a result, we will be removing his cartoon from our eight newspapers and the Internet as soon as possible.
This is the message I have prepared for our print readers:
Fans of the "Dilbert" comic strip will notice that it has disappeared from their Sunday comics. We have discontinued the strip, effective immediately, due to racist comments that the strip's creator, Scott Adams, posted on social media.
The values we uphold as a company, as community members, and as employers of a diverse workforce demand that we take immediate and unequivocal action against such bias and stereotyping. Adams' views are his choice; our choice is not to associate our company with him.
San Antonio Express-News / Hearst *
E-N drops 'Dilbert' over creator's comments about black Americans
Mark H. Medici, Publisher / Marc Duvoisin, Editor-in-Chief.
The San Antonio Express-News is withdrawing the comic strip "Dilbert" because of public comments of hate and discrimination by its creator, Scott Adams.
On his online video show, Adams recently made numerous derogatory comments about black Americans. These statements are offensive to our core values. Removing a comic from our pages is not censorship. Adams is entitled to express his views. The Express-News is under no obligation to give him a platform or financial support.
Because the comics section is published in advance, we cannot remove it from our pages immediately. Readers will find it in their Saturday and Sunday papers. But as of Monday, "Dilbert" will no longer appear in the Express-News.
* The San Francisco Chronicle, also of the Hearst group, dropped Dilbert last year because of the strip's content, but in covering this latest story it reports that at least some of its two dozen sister papers in the Hearst group are now dropping the comic.
Andrews McMeel Universal has also severed ties with Dilbert's creator and announces that it no longer has him in syndication.
The list grows
The list of newspapers joining the strip's cancellation is growing fast. These are some of the latest, but there are many more, including media groups that publish different titles.
- The Washinton Post
- Hearst Connecticut Media Group
- The Chicago Tribune
- The Los Angeles Times
- The New York Daily News
- The Santa Rosa Press Democrat
- The Philadelphia Inquirer
- The Albuquerque Journal
- The Boston Globe
- Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram
- Santa Fe New Mexican
- The (Spokane) Spokesman-Review
- The Seattle Times
- The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
According to The Daily Cartoonist, which continues to update the list of media outlets doing without Dilbert, it's looking more and more likely that Scott Adams will get his prediction about the number of papers that will publish Dilbert on Monday right. It will be approximately zero. So far he's not far off the mark.
The "Dilbert" strip was launched in 1989 appearing in a handful of newspapers. Dilbert went on to be published in more than 2,000 newspapers, in 57 countries and in 19 languages.
Humour in trouble, a collection of cases (III)
Cases of cartoonists who have had problems of some importance because of their cartoons or satirical illustrations or because of their opinions. There are also some stories of other people who, without being cartoonists, have got into trouble for sharing them.
