Distributor cuts ties with ‘Dilbert,’ cartoonist Adams

“Dilbert” creator Scott Adams experienced possibly the biggest repercussion of recent racist comments when a major comics syndicate, which also operates the GoComics website, announced Sunday it would no longer work with the cartoonist.

Andrews McMeel Universal said in a statement that the syndication company was “severing” its relationship with Adams. By Monday morning, Adams no longer appeared in searches on GoComics and “Dilbert” comics were gone from the website, which also features strips like “Peanuts” and “Calvin and Hobbes,” as well as political cartoons.

Dozens of newspapers – ranging from the Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, the Arizona Republic and The Washington Post to smaller papers like the the Santa Fe New Mexican and the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette – have said they would cease to publish “Dilbert.” The strip, which lampoons office culture, first appeared in 1989.

In a 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.” 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.

“This is a decision based on the principles of this news organization and the community we serve,” Cleveland Plain Dealer editor Chris Quinn wrote. “We are not a home for those who espouse racism. We certainly do not want to provide them with financial support.”

The Andrews McMeel Universal statement said the distributor supports free speech, but Adams’ comments were not compatible with the core values of the company based in Kansas City, Missouri.