Scott Adams, US Creator of ‘Dilbert’ Cartoon, Dies at 68
NEW YORK: Scott Adams, the American cartoonist famous for his “Dilbert” comic strip whose career was later disrupted by a racism controversy, has died at the age of 68, his ex-wife said on Tuesday.
Adams, who rose to fame in the 1990s for his satirical take on white-collar office life, was receiving hospice care at his home in Northern California after he was diagnosed with prostate cancer.
His ex-wife Shelly Miles announced his death with an emotional and live message broadcast on Adams’ YouTube channel “Real Coffee with Scott Adams”.
US President Donald Trump praised Adams as a “huge influencer” in a post on the Truth Social platform.
“He was a great man who loved and respected me even though it wasn’t fashionable,” Trump wrote. Adams supported Trump before his 2016 election victory.
“Dilbert” was first released in 1989 and followed the title character working as an engineer in a micromanaged office. At its peak, it was distributed internationally to approximately 2,000 newspapers.
But many publications, including the Washington Post, removed the comic after Adams posted a video calling Black people a “hate group” in 2023.
His remarks were prompted by a poll by the conservative-leaning Rasmussen Reports; the results of this survey showed that a slight majority of Black respondents agreed with the statement, “It’s okay to be white.”
“This is a hate group and I want nothing to do with them,” Adams said in the video.
“The way things are going right now, the best advice I can give to white people is to get the hell out of Black people.”
Adams later defended his comments and said he used exaggeration.
It received support from right-wing billionaire Elon Musk, who called the US media “racist” for its decision to stop publication of the cartoon.
