Dilbert comic strip creator Scott Adams made his previous racism controversy a lot worse when he defended his remarks during an interview with Chris Cuomo.
Adams is an illustrator who created the comic strip Dilbert, which was first published on April 16, 1989.
The syndicated comic satirized office culture and featured the titular character as a sarcastic engineer working for a micromanaged office.
Outside of being a cartoonist and author, Adams—who is white—is known for making scandalous social and political comments.
Last month during a livestream on his YouTube channel, Real Coffee with Scott Adams, he proffered:
“The best advice I would give to white people is to get the hell away from Black people.”
“Just get the f'k away. Wherever you have to go, just get away."
He continued with his diatribe, insisting:
“This can’t be fixed. So I don’t think it makes any sense as a white citizen of America to try to help Black citizens anymore."
"It doesn’t make sense. There’s no longer a rational impulse."
"So I’m going to back off on being helpful to Black America because it doesn’t seem like it pays off.”
Dilbert was subsequently dropped by numerous publications—including the Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times—and its distributor, Andrews McMeel Syndication, after Adams' video was published on the platform.
\u201cWeeks after making racially charged comments resulting in his nationally syndicated cartoon being pulled from newspapers nationwide, \u201cDilbert\u201d creator Scott Adams pled his case to NewsNation host Chris Cuomo Monday night. https://t.co/Y7RGPl7Ftw\u201d— Chicago Tribune (@Chicago Tribune) 1678225506
In an interview with NewsNation's Chris Cuomo, the embattled cartoonist explained his mindset when he seemingly encouraged segregation by characterizing Black Americans as a "hate group."
"I was trying to court controversy," he admitted when Cuomo asked if he was prepared for people to respond negatively and accuse him of being a racist.
"I was trying to attract attention so that I could have a productive argument."
But Adams was not prepared for people to take his admittedly hyperbolic words about avoiding Black people out of context.
\u201cHe's claiming now that his incendiary comments were just "hyperbole"\u201d— TomTom (@TomTom) 1678156098
He also claimed the public outcry mostly came from white Americans.
Said Adams:
“It’s almost entirely white people that canceled me, it might be entirely, because they’re the ones that own the publishing companies and the newspapers."
Adams added:
“Black America is actually completely fine, both conservative and liberal, if they see the context."
"Black people are contacting me and saying, ‘Come over to the barbecue, let’s talk,’ and all these things.”
\u201c@glennEmartin @ChrisCuomo I\u2019m bringing his pie to said cookout\u2026\u201d— Glenn E. Martin \ud83d\udc10 (@Glenn E. Martin \ud83d\udc10) 1678218784
You can watch the interview on CUOMO here.
‘Dilbert’ author Scott Adams: Outrage mostly from white people | CUOMOyoutu.be
People weighed in on Adams' cancellation status after watching the interview.
\u201cI\u2019m watching Scott Adams on #NewsNation #Cuomo that was recorded earlier & so far I\u2019ve come to the conclusion that he\u2019s even MORE of an idiot than I previously thought (which was extremely high on the \u201cIdiot Scale.\u201d) I didn\u2019t think that was possible, but there it is.\u201d— Alisa Steinberg (@Alisa Steinberg) 1678163118
\u201c@ChrisCuomo, this is what I heard during that ridiculous interview of #ScottAdams - "I'm not racist, but buy my new book. I said something racist, but read my other books. Most people of color love the racist comment I made. Have I mentioned any of my books yet?" #Clueless\u201d— Karla (@Karla) 1678164026
\u201c@typo_cat He cancelled himself. Nobody wants to be around what he was selling.\u201d— Cat, Reigning Typo Queen\ud83d\udc51\ud83d\ude37\ud83c\udf3bNO DMs (@Cat, Reigning Typo Queen\ud83d\udc51\ud83d\ude37\ud83c\udf3bNO DMs) 1678219573
\u201c@typo_cat So he knows what ALL white people's opinion of him is? He's wrong. AMERICAN's cancelled him. Anyone who believes in equality cancelled him. And good riddance to his bad rubbish.\u201d— Cat, Reigning Typo Queen\ud83d\udc51\ud83d\ude37\ud83c\udf3bNO DMs (@Cat, Reigning Typo Queen\ud83d\udc51\ud83d\ude37\ud83c\udf3bNO DMs) 1678219573
\u201c@glennEmartin @ChrisCuomo But black people are a hate group according to him. Surely he wouldn\u2019t attend a hate group barbecue.\u201d— Glenn E. Martin \ud83d\udc10 (@Glenn E. Martin \ud83d\udc10) 1678218784
\u201c@glennEmartin @ChrisCuomo\u201d— Glenn E. Martin \ud83d\udc10 (@Glenn E. Martin \ud83d\udc10) 1678218784
According to Variety, Adams made the comments on YouTube's livestream in response to a Rasmussen poll that indicated 26% of Black respondents disagreed with the statement “It’s OK to be white,” while 21% of Black people said they were unsure.
The remaining 53% of Black participants agreed with the statement.
The Anti-Defamation League said the "It's OK to be white" statement was a "hate symbol” that was popularized in late 2017 as a trolling campaign on the website 4chan.
At the end of his interview on CUOMO, Adams insinuated he wasn't remorseful after being canceled.
When asked if he would repeat his actions, Adams responded:
“Would I do it again to get to this place? I have to tell you, I feel like I’m supposed to be here. It’s a weird feeling."
"Like I never felt bad about getting canceled, and I can’t explain that, except that I feel like I was supposed to be here."
“I feel like the race relations in the country are so broken that you just have to stir up some crap to get anybody’s attention and maybe convince them to look forward and maybe work together with people who have exactly the same goals.”
Adams' past controversial commentary included his praise of former Republican President Donald Trump and his comparison of Trump to Jesus.
He also called the Black Lives Matter movement in 2020 a “domestic terror organization that is setting back race relations by perhaps twenty years.”
Adams is planning to revive Dilbert as an angrier version of the character in a new comic strip called Dilbert Reborn via the creator crowdfunding site Locals this month.
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