Various media outlets have denounced Dilbert creator Scott Adams’ comments as racist, hateful and discriminatory and have claimed they will no longer provide a platform for his work.
Andrews McMeel Syndication, which distributes Dilbert, did not immediately respond to inquiries from Mr. Adams or the Underwriting Agency Saturday about his comments. Dilbert is a long-running comic poking fun at office culture.
The backlash began last week after an episode of the YouTube show Real Coffee starring Scott Adams. Among other things, Mr Adams referred to a survey by Rasmussen Reports, which asked whether people agreed with the statement It’s OK to be white.
Most agreed, but Adams found that 26% of black respondents disagreed and others were unsure.
The Anti-Defamation League claims the phrase was popularized in 2017 as a trolling campaign by members of the 4chan chat room, but was later used by white supremacists.
Mr Adams, who is white, has repeatedly labeled black people as members of a hate group or racial hate group and said he will no longer help black Americans. He urged whites to distance themselves from blacks.
The San Antonio Express-News, part of Hearst Newspapers, said Saturday that it would be shutting down the Dilbert comic effective Monday due to hateful and discriminatory public comments from its creator.
The USA Today Network tweeted on Friday that it would also stop publishing Dilbert “due to recent discriminatory comments from its creator.”
The Cleveland Plain Dealer and other Advance Local Media publications also announced they were dropping Dilbert.
This decision is based on the principles of this news organization and the community we serve, wrote Chris Quinn, editor of The Plain Dealer. We are not a home for those who stand up for racism. We certainly don’t want to support them financially.
Christopher Kelly, vice president of content at NJ Advance Media, wrote that the news agency believes in the free and fair exchange of ideas.
But when those ideas become hate speech, a line needs to be drawn, Kelly wrote.