End for ‘Dilbert,’ Adams doesn’t surprise followers

New York — The comic strip “Dilbert” disappeared with lightning speed following racist remarks by creator Scott Adams, but it shouldn’t come as a shock to anyone who has followed them both.

Adams, who is white, was an outspoken presence on social media long before describing Black people as a “hate group” on YouTube and, to some, “Dilbert” had strayed from its roots as a chronicler of office culture.

The editor of the San Francisco Chronicle, which dumped “Dilbert” last year, said the comic strip “went from being hilarious to being hurtful and mean.” The Los Angeles Times, which joined dozens of other newspapers in dropping the comic following last week’s remarks, had quietly replaced four of Adams’ strips last year.

“He kind of ran out of office jokes and started integrating all this other stuff so after a while, it became hard to distinguish between Scott Adams and ‘Dilbert,’” said Mike Peterson, columnist for the industry blog The Daily Cartoonist.

As individual newspapers told readers they were dropping “Dilbert,” the company that distributed the strip, Andrews McMeel Universal, said it was severing ties with Adams. By Monday, “Dilbert” was gone from the GoComics site, which also features many top comics such as “Peanuts” and “Calvin and Hobbes.”

Adams said Monday that the strip, which first appeared in 1989, will only be available on his subscription service on the Locals platform.

“Dilbert” is effectively dead, Peterson said.

Adams said Monday on YouTube that his distributor didn’t really have a choice because clients and other cartoonists were mad. “They were just forced into it,” he said.

On Twitter, he said his book publisher and book agent had “canceled” him. The Penguin Random House imprint Portfolio said it wouldn’t publish Adams’ book “Reframe Your Brain” in September, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Adams has long been active on Twitter, whose CEO, Elon Musk, was among the few to publicly back him. He also blogs regularly and puts out a regular podcast on YouTube.

He’s attracted attention for comments he’s made in the past, including saying in 2011 that women are treated differently by society for the same reason as children and the mentally disabled — “it’s just easier this way for everyone.”