Canadian Newspapers Are Axing The 'Dilbert' Comic After The Creator Posted A Racist Rant
"While we respect and encourage free speech..."
A still from the video where Dilbert creator Scott Adams makes racist comments.
The creator of Dilbert is making headlines for comments he recently made on his YouTube channel and now several publications have decided to drop the popular comic altogether.
On Sunday, February 26, The Globe and Mail issued a tweet regarding the "discriminatory comments" made by Scott Adams.
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"Following recent discriminatory comments by Dilbert creator Scott Adams, The Globe and Mail has decided to discontinue publishing his comic," the newspaper tweeted.
"While we respect and encourage free speech, his views do not align with our editorial or business values as an organization."
\u201cFollowing recent discriminatory comments by Dilbert creator Scott Adams, The Globe and Mail has decided to discontinue publishing his comic. While we respect and encourage free speech, his views do not align with our editorial or business values as an organization.\u201d— The Globe and Mail (@The Globe and Mail) 1677444534
According to CBC, the Toronto Star will no longer be publishing the series in its weekend comics due to Adams' "racist comments," while Postmedia has discontinued the comic effective immediately.
Dilbert has also been dropped by The Washington Post, according to an article by the outlet, as well as the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times "and the USA Today network of hundreds of newspapers."
The move comes after Adams made offensive statements about Black Americans in a live stream on his YouTube channel on Wednesday, February 22.
During the video, which was over an hour long, he called Black Americans a "hate group" in response to the results of a report that allegedly stated 26% of Black respondents did not agree with the statement "It's OK to be white."
He also claimed that he previously self-identified as Black because he "likes to be on the winning team," but decided to "re-identify as white 'cause I don't want to be a member of a hate group."
Adams then advised white people to "get the hell away from Black people."
According to CBC, Dilbert debuted in 1989 and is known to poke fun at corporate culture.
Following the backlash, Adams shared on Twitter that his publisher for his non-Dilbert books cancelled his upcoming book as well as "the entire backlist."
"Still no disagreement about my point of view," he wrote. "My book agent cancelled me too."
Adams also posted a poll on his Twitter page asking if people will end their newspaper subscriptions due to Dilbert being cancelled.
While the poll is not closed as of yet, it currently has over 40,000 votes, with about 17% saying yes, they'll cancel, 36% saying they won't, and the rest voting for "What's a newspaper?"
Narcity has reached out to Scott Adams for comment but did not hear back by the time of publishing.
If you or someone you know has been the victim of racism, or if you are interested in learning more about how you can fight racism in your community, refer to these supports and resources across Canada.