Herald-Leader joins newspapers around the country in cancelling Dilbert creator over racist remarks on his YouTube show

Lexington, Ky.–The Lexington Herald-Leader announced today that it will no longer carry the long running “Dilbert” comic strip following racist comments by its creator, Scott Adams. The comic strip was known for poking fun at corporate office culture.

The Herald-Leader is dropping the “Dilbert” comic strip from our pages after recent comments by its creator, Scott Adams. Mr. Adams is free to share his views as he sees fit, but we will not allow our platform to be used by those who espouse hatred and bigotry. Our readers deserve better. We all deserve better.

Lexington Herald-Leader front page announcement, Monday, February 27

According to the Associated Press, Mr. Adams faced a backlash of cancellations Saturday for defending remarks describing people who are Black as members of “a hate group” from which white people should “get away.”

Numerous publications across the U.S. denounced the comments as racist, hateful and discriminatory while saying they would no longer provide a platform for his work.

The backlash began following an episode this past week of the YouTube show, “Real Coffee with Scott Adams.” Among other topics, Adams referenced a Rasmussen Reports survey that had asked whether people agreed with the statement “It’s OK to be white.”

Most agreed, but Adams 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.

Media drop Dilbert after creator’s Black ‘hate group’ remark (AP)

Top Image: An announcement from the Lexington Herald-Leader on the cancellation of “Dilbert.” (Monday, February 27, Page A1)