Sunday, February 26, 2023

Newspapers Drop "Dilbert" Comic After Creator’s Racist Rants on Live YouTube Stream

Scott Adams remarked that white people should “get the hell away from Black people,” and newspapers are dropping the syndicated cartoonist's "Dilbert" comic strip. 

 

From The New York Times:

"Hundreds of newspapers across the country will stop running the 'Dilbert' comic strip after its creator said on a YouTube livestream that Black people were “a hate group” and that white people should 'just get the hell away' from them.

"The creator, Scott Adams, who was behind the widely syndicated comic strip that mocks office culture, was widely rebuked for his comments by newspapers that had printed his work for years.

"The USA Today Network, which publishes more than 200 newspapers, said it 'will no longer publish the ‘Dilbert’ comic due to the recent discriminatory comments by its creator.'

"The Los Angeles Times said on Saturday that it would end publication of the comic strip because of his racist comments. And the editor of The Cleveland Plain Dealer, Chris Quinn, said that Mr. Adams went on a 'racist rant' that had prompted the newspaper to also drop 'Dilbert.'"

I first heard about it in The Oregonian in an op ed by Therese Bottomly, editor and vice president of content for The Oregonian/OregonLive:

"The Oregonian will no longer publish the long-running 'Dilbert' comic strip after its creator Scott Adams broadcast a racist rant on social media.

"I made the decision after watching Adams’ nearly hourlong diatribe on his YouTube show 'Real Coffee with Scott Adams,' which included such exhortations as, '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.'

"Typically, I like to fully explain our decisions to readers but much of what he said is too patently offensive. I won’t repeat his comments here.

"Because some sections are printed in advance, 'Dilbert' will appear a few more times in The Oregonian. The strip 'Frazz' will take its place as soon as possible."

Late today (Sunday afternoon), Andrews McMeel posted this on their Instagram:



Andrew Farago of The Cartoon Art Museum in San Francisco posted this prescient 1988 interview excerpt from The Comics Journal with Berke Breathed. A year later, Scott Adams signed his syndicate deal. (Go to the larger text image for a blow up.)




There is no place for racism in this country. America is about inclusion and how we are more alike than different. What is going on is maddening. And the fact that people are making money off of the hatred is part of it too. I'm glad USA Today and Andrews McMeel have said that this is too much -- and they took steps quickly.

 

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