Newsday dropping 'Dilbert' comic after creator's racist comments
Scott Adams, creator of the "Dilbert" comic strip, in his studio in 2006. Credit: AP / Marcio Jose Sanchez
Media outlets across the country, including Newsday, are dropping the "Dilbert" comic after its creator Scott Adams made racist comments on his YouTube show, while Adams' distributor Andrews McMeel Universal announced Sunday it would no longer work with the cartoonist.
Andrews McMeel chairman Hugh Andrews and CEO and president Andy Sareyan said in a joint statement that the syndication company was “severing our relationship" with Adams.
In the Feb. 22 episode of his YouTube show, Adams described people who are Black as members of “a hate group” from which white people should “get away.” Newsday and other media publishers across the United States have denounced the comments as racist, hateful and discriminatory while saying they would no longer provide a platform for his work.
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.
“We are proud to promote and share many different voices and perspectives. But we will never support any commentary rooted in discrimination or hate,” they said in the statement posted on the company website and Twitter.
In addition to Newsday, media outlets dropping Dilbert also include the New York Daily News, The Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times.
"The recent comments made by 'Dilbert' creator Scott Adams do not align with Newsday’s core values," Newsday communications director Kim Como said in a statement. "Because of this, Newsday has made the decision – like many other publishers – to no longer publish the 'Dilbert' comic."
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.”
The backlash against Adams arose following comments on “Real Coffee with Scott Adams.” Among other topics, Adams used the YouTube show to reference a Rasmussen Reports survey that had asked whether people agreed with the statement “It's OK to be white."
Most agreed, but Adams, who is white, noted that 26% of Black respondents disagreed and others weren't sure.
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.
In another episode of his online show Saturday, Adams said he had been making a point that “everyone should be treated as an individual” without discrimination.
"But you should also avoid any group that doesn’t respect you, even if there are people within the group who are fine,” Adams said.
Christopher Kelly, vice president of content for NJ Advance Media, wrote that the news organization believes in “the free and fair exchange of ideas.”
“But when those ideas cross into hate speech, a line must be drawn,” Kelly wrote.
With Newsday Staff
'We have to do better' Newsday high school sports editor Gregg Sarra talks about a bench-clearing, parent-involved incident at a Half Hollow Hills West basketball game.
'We have to do better' Newsday high school sports editor Gregg Sarra talks about a bench-clearing, parent-involved incident at a Half Hollow Hills West basketball game.
