‘Dilbert’ Syndicator Quits Comic, Publisher Drops Book After Scott Adams Racist Comments

Dilbert’s syndicator said they were shutting down the cartoon after racist comments from its creator, Scott Adams.

The publisher of Adams’ non-Dilbert books also turned down an upcoming project, according to The Wall Street Journal. Adams wrote on Twitter that the publisher had also removed its backlist.

“No disagreement about my position yet. My book agent also canceled on me,” Adams wrote.

But newspapers across the country dropped the Dilbert cartoon after Adams appeared on his YouTube show, in which he called black Americans a “hate group.” “The best advice I would give white people is to stay away from black people, for God’s sake.” Adams was talking about a Rasmussen poll about the use of the phrase “it’s okay to be white.” According to the poll, 26 black Americans disagreed with the statement and another 21 percent said they were unsure about the statement. It is a phrase used by the extreme right and condemned by the Anti-Defamation League.

The journal reported that Portfolio, a Penguin Random House imprint, will not publish Adams’ book Reframe Your Brain, due out this fall. A spokesman for the publisher did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Andrews McMeel, the syndicater of the Dilbert strip, has confirmed that they will cut ties with Adams. In a statement, chairman Hugh Andrews and chief executive Andy Sareyan said: “As a media and communications company, AMU values ​​freedom of expression. We pride ourselves on encouraging and sharing many different voices and perspectives. But we will never support comments based on discrimination or hate. Scott Adams’ recent comments about race and race relations are contrary to our core values ​​as a company.”

adams placed an interview in which he explains his comments. “I accept criticism from anyone who has seen the full context here. The rest of you are in a fake news bubble, but I trust you guessed it,” he wrote.