Newspapers drop Dilbert comic strip over creator's racist remarks

Newspapers across the United States over the weekend said they would stop running the famed Dilbert comic strip after a series of racist remarks made by its creator.

Scott Adams, who created the satirical office comic in 1989, made the comments on his YouTube livestream show Real Coffee with Scott Adams. On the show, Adams called Black people a "hate group," adding, "the best advice I would give to white people is to get the hell away from Black people, just get the f--k away . . . because there is no fixing this."

Adams has insisted that his comments were not racist, defending himself in numerous posts Sunday on his Twitter account.

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Numerous news outlets have already dropped the Dilbert cartoon, and it appears more may be on the way. Publishing company Gannett said in a statement that "discriminatory comments by the creator, Scott Adams, have influenced our decision to discontinue publishing his comic," adding, "While we respect and encourage free speech, his views do not align with our editorial or business values as an organization."

Gannett publishes USA Today and more than 300 local newspapers, including the Detroit Free Press, Indianapolis Star, Austin American-Statesman, and Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

The Washington Post also announced that it was pulling Dilbert from its pages, saying that it had made the decision "in light of Scott Adams' recent statements promoting segregation."

Other media outlets that have cut ties with Dilbert include the Los Angeles Times, The Boston Globe, the San Antonio-Express News, and Michigan-based publisher MLive Media Group, The New York Times reports. The Times will also stop printing the comic strip.

When asked by the Post how many outlets still publish Dilbert, Adams said, "By Monday, around zero."