Seattle Times drops ‘Dilbert’ from its comic strips

The Seattle Times and dozens of other newspapers across the country have dropped the comic strip Dilbert.

Dilbert is the guy many of us can relate to as a man stuck in corporate bureaucracy and silliness.

But many didn’t find Dilbert’s creator Scott Adams’ rant on YouTube to be funny. Adams called Black people “a hate group” and urged white people “to get the **** away from Black people.”

Seattle Times executive editor Michele Matassa Flores wrote in the newspaper that Adams “conveniently ignore centuries of oppressive power dynamics, which have excluded Black people and other marginalized communities.”

Flores wrote of Adams, “Instead of inviting others to share the nation’s promises, he angrily defends the status quo that privileges his own in-group.”

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She said Adams had shown racist behavior in the past and that he does not reflect the Times’ values.

Flores wrote on Monday:

While Dilbert’s satire of mindless corporate bureaucracy and office culture has been popular with readers for many years, Adams’ conduct is repulsive and collides with Seattle Times values. We believe in treating people with respect and honoring the diversity in our community. We strive to cover this region in a way that includes those of all backgrounds and with varied life experiences. We proudly support anti-racist policies in our news coverage and editorial positions.

Many publications have recoiled after Adams’ diatribe. Over four days, Dilbert has been pulled from The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, and newspapers within the sizable Gannett and Advance chains.

In response to a tweet about the controversy, Twitter owner Elon Musk said it is the “media (that) is racist.” Musk did not criticize Adams’ comments, and he said without evidence that for a “very long time, US media was racist against non-white people, now they’re racist against whites & Asians.”