Dilbert creator Scott Adams has defended his racist rant that saw his comic strip dropped by newspapers across America by invoking the ‘Mike Pence Rule’ and claiming bigotry is ok in certain situations.
In a follow-up video on Saturday to his hateful tirade where he labeled black people a ‘hate group’, Adams sought to explain himself when he advised followers that it was ok to ‘get the f**k’ away from people of color to avoid getting into trouble.
Adams likened his comments to the former vice president’s personal policy, where he said he never dines alone with a woman other than his wife, which many criticized as a sexist practice.
Dilbert creator Scott Adams took to YouTube on Saturday to defend his racist tirade as he urged people to embrace bigotry if it means getting ahead in their careers
Adams, however, interpreted the rule as a way for a man to avoid false accusations of sexual misconduct, and said his advice about avoiding black people stemmed from the same fear of supposed false racism allegations.
The embattled cartoonist, however, went further than just defending himself in the new video as he urged ‘everyone’ to embrace racism in the workplace.
‘I’m just saying: as a personal, career decision, you should absolutely be racist whenever it’s to your advantage, and that’s for men, for women, for Black or white, Asian or Hispanic,’ he said.
Gannett, the largest newspaper publisher in the US that oversees more than 300 papers, said it would stop publishing the comic immediately following the remarks made by its creator on his online show ‘Real Coffee with Scott Adams.’
Lamenting his cancellation on Saturday, Adams bizarrely tried to explain that what he did ‘was the opposite of racism, but also racism.’
‘Who disagrees with the idea that you should stay away from pockets of people where the odds are, they’re not going to like you,’ he told viewers, once again claiming that he would be a victim of false allegations.
Then Adams brought up Pence and his personal dinner practices, which he saw as a way to avoid ‘getting Me-Too’d when maybe you didn’t Me-Too anybody.’
Adams said: ‘Do you remember the ‘Pence rule?’ The Pence Rule was he wouldn’t go to lunch or dinner with a woman who is not his wife.’
Adams’ comments have led to newspapers across America canceling the once-beloved office-life comic strip that has been in circulation since 1989
‘Now, do you think that Pence does not like women? Would that be a reasonable conclusion?
‘Is that an anti-women thing? By the way, that’s totally right. Here’s how I interpret it. It has nothing to do with anything to do with any individual woman. [He’s not saying] ‘This jezebel wants to go to lunch with me.’ He’s not saying that.
‘He’s just playing the odds. He’s just playing a statistical game,’ Adams said.
He used that interpretation to justify his argument, saying: ‘The Mike Pence rule would say, you wanna get some distance. Now is that racist? Yeah, by definition.
‘But it’s racist in a personal success context, which is completely allowable.’
And on the topic of ‘allowable’ racism, Adams urged anyone to take advantage of bigoted practices to reap rewards.
One such practice, Adams argued, was affirmative action, claiming that a Black person taking advantage of the policy is a ‘racist career decision’ that he ‘would totally back.’
‘If you’re making decisions for your own personal life, you can be as racist as you want,’ he said. ‘That’s not illegal and it’s definitely not unethical.’
Scott Adams, pictured in his studio in 2006, is believed to have amassed a $70 million fortune for his beloved ‘Dilbert’ comics which have been in circulation since 1989
Adams, who is believed to have amassed more than $70 million from the Dilbert series, faced intense backlash when he said in the livestreamed talk on Wednesday: ‘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 added: ‘There’s no fixing this. This can’t be fixed… You just have to escape. So that’s what I did, I went to a neighborhood where I have a very low black population.’
The 65-year-old went on to label black people a ‘hate group,’ citing a poll that found nearly half of black people are not ok with white people.
The hour-long YouTube video was posted to Adams’ channel which has 118,000 subscribers.
As of Saturday it had 142,000 views.
On Saturday Gannett confirmed it was dropping Dilbert over the controversy.
‘Recent discriminatory comments by the creator, Scott Adams, have influenced our decision to discontinue publishing his comic,’ the organization said in a statement Saturday to The New York Post.
‘While we respect and encourage free speech, his views do not align with our editorial or business values as an organization.
‘At Gannett, we lead with inclusion and strive to maintain a respectful and equitable environment for the diverse communities we serve nationwide.’
Dilbert has featured in newspapers across 57 countries, and in 19 languages – and there are over 20 million Dilbert books and calendars in print
Adams likened his argument of staying away from black people to Mike Pence’s (above) personal policy of not having dinner alone with a woman who isn’t his wife
The Cleveland Plain Dealer also said it’s cutting ties with Adams following his ‘racist rant.’
‘This is not a difficult decision,’ Plain Dealer Editor Chris Quinn wrote Friday in his letter from the editor.
‘Adams said Black people are a hate group, citing a recent Rasmussen survey which, he said, shows nearly half of all Black people do not agree with the phrase ‘It’s okay to be white.’
The Los Angeles Times also announced it would be discontinuing the comic, along with the San Antonio Express-News and the USA Today Network.
The decision comes after Dilbert was already canned by 77 newspapers in September due to its increasingly controversial plotlines including one about a black character who identifies as white.
The comic has been in circulation since 1989 and frequently pokes fun at office culture.
On Saturday Gannett, which owns over 100 newspapers, said it was dropping the series
The series had already been dropped by other publishers over its increasingly contentious plotlines
Newspaper cartoon Dilbert gets dropped after creator Scott Adams went on racist rant
Adams appeared to double down on the remarks on Twitter at the weekend.
‘A lot of people are angry at me today but I haven’t yet heard anyone disagree,’ he told his 867,000 followers.
‘I make two main points: 1. Treat everyone as an individual (no discrimination).
‘2. Avoid any group that doesn’t respect you. Does anyone think that is bad advice?’
Later in the day he posted: ‘Has anyone checked the price of free speech lately? It’s worse than eggs.’
It comes five months after Lee Enterprises also dropped the cartoon from its newspapers.
The media company owns 77 newspapers across the country – including The Buffalo News, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, and the Arizona Daily Sun – and had been publishing Adams’ jokes about the corporate ladder for years.
Last year one plotline saw a black character, who identifies as white, being asked to also identify as gay to boost his company’s environmental, social, and governance ratings.
Adams, pictured in 2001, has come under fire for the ‘racist’ remarks posted to his YouTube channel Real Coffee with Scott Adams
Dave, his reoccurring character, replies: ‘Depends how hard you want me to sell it,’ before the boss responds: ‘Just wear better shirts.’
Another satire showed the same character in charge of the fictional firm wondering how he can open a new factory without contributing negatively to the environment.
As a solution to stop him being bashed by ‘woke’ commentators, the boss concludes that he’ll add a non-binary worker to his board to increase diversity.
Adams’ satirical strips feature in newspapers across 57 countries, and in 19 languages – and there are over 20 million Dilbert books and calendars in print.
