Dilbert comic strip creator Scott Adams experienced possibly the biggest repercussion of his recent comments about race when distributor Andrews McMeel Universal announced Sunday it would no longer work with the cartoonist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Andrews McMeel Chairman Hugh Andrews and CEO and President Andy Sareyan said in a joint statement that the syndication company was \u201csevering our relationship” with Adams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the Feb. 22 episode of his YouTube show, Adams described people who are Black as members of \u201ca hate group\u201d from which white people should \u201cget away.\u201d Various media publishers across the U.S. denounced the comments as racist, hateful and discriminatory while saying they would no longer provide a platform for his work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Andrews and Sareyan said Andrews McMeel supports free speech, but the comments by the cartoonist were not compatible with the core values of the company based in Kansas City, Missouri.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe are proud to promote and share many different voices and perspectives. But we will never support any commentary rooted in discrimination or hate,\u201d they said in the statement posted on the company website and Twitter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The creator of the long-running comic that pokes fun at office-place culture defended himself on social media against those whom he said “hate me and are canceling me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The backlash against Adams arose following comments on \u201cReal Coffee with Scott Adams.\u201d Among other topics, Adams used the YouTube show to reference a Rasmussen Reports survey that had asked whether people agreed with the statement \u201cIt’s OK to be white.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Most agreed, but Adams noted that 26% of Black respondents disagreed and others weren’t sure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Anti-Defamation League says the phrase was popularized in 2017 as a trolling campaign by members of the discussion forum 4chan but then began being used by some white supremacists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Adams, who is white, repeatedly referred to people who are Black as members of a \u201chate group\u201d or a \u201cracist hate group\u201d and said he would no longer \u201chelp Black Americans.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBased 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,\u201d Adams said on his Wednesday show.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In another episode of his online show Saturday, Adams said he had been making a point that \u201ceveryone should be treated as an individual\u201d without discrimination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“But you should also avoid any group that doesn\u2019t respect you, even if there are people within the group who are fine,\u201d Adams said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dilbert had already been dropped by several media outlets by the time of the announcement from its distributor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe have decided to no longer publish the \u2018Dilbert\u2019 comic strip in our international print edition following racist comments by Scott Adams,” said Danielle Rhoades Ha, a spokeswoman for The New York Times<\/a> who said Dilbert was published in the international print edition but not in the U.S. edition or online.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Washington Post<\/a> said it would stop publishing Dilbert in light of \u201cScott Adams\u2019s recent statements promoting segregation,” although the strip could not be prevented from running in some forthcoming print editions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Los Angeles Times<\/a> cited Adams’ \u201cracist comments\u201d while announcing Saturday that Dilbert will be discontinued Monday in most editions and that its final run in the Sunday comics \u2014 which are printed in advance \u2014 will be March 12.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The San Antonio Express-News<\/a>, which is part of Hearst Newspapers, said Saturday it will drop the Dilbert comic strip, effective Monday, \u201cbecause of hateful and discriminatory public comments by its creator.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The USA Today Network<\/a> tweeted Friday that it will stop publishing Dilbert “due to recent discriminatory comments by its creator.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n