Dilbert creator Scott Adams has defended his racist tirade that got his comic strip launched by newspapers across the US by invoking the ‘Mike Pence Rule’ and stating that bigotry is okay in certain situations.
In a follow-up video Saturday to his hateful rant labeling black people a “hate group,” Adams tried to explain himself when he warned followers it was okay to “stay away from people of color.” to avoid getting into trouble.
Adams compared 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.
Adams, however, interpreted the rule as a way for a man to avoid false accusations of sexual misconduct, saying his advice on avoiding black people stemmed from the same fear of alleged false accusations of racism.
However, the embattled cartoonist went further than 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 absolutely have to be racist whenever it benefits you, and that’s for men, women, black or white, Asian or Hispanic,” he said.
Gannett, the largest US newspaper publisher that oversees more than 300 articles, said it would stop publishing the comic immediately following comments made by its creator on his online show “Real Coffee with Scott Adams.”
Dilbert creator Scott Adams took to YouTube on Saturday to defend his racist tirade and urged people to embrace bigotry if it means getting ahead in their careers.
Adams’ comments have prompted newspapers across the country to cancel the once-beloved office life comic strip that has been running since 1989.
Regretting his cancellation on Saturday, Adams bizarrely tried to explain that what he did “was the opposite of racism, but also racism.”
“Anyone who doesn’t agree with the idea that you should stay out of people’s pockets where the odds are, they’re not going to like you,” he told viewers, stating once again that he would be the victim of false accusations.
Adams then brought up Pence and his personal practices at dinner, which he saw as a way to avoid “getting Me-Too’d when maybe not Me-Tooing anyone.”
Adams compared his argument about staying away from blacks to Mike Pence’s personal policy (above) of not dining alone with a woman other than his wife.
Adams said: ‘Remember the ‘Pence rule?’ Pence’s rule was that he would not go to lunch or dinner with a woman other than his wife.
‘Now, do you think Pence doesn’t like women? Would that be a reasonable conclusion?
‘Is that something anti-women? By the way, that’s totally correct. This is how I interpret it. It has nothing to do with anything to do with any particular woman. (He is not saying) ‘This Jezebel wants to go to lunch with me.’ He is not saying that.
You’re 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 want to distance yourself a little bit. Now is that racist? Yes, by definition.
“But it’s racist in a context of personal success, which is completely permissible.”
And on the subject of “permitted” racism, Adams urged anyone to take advantage of bigoted practices for rewards.
One such practice, Adams argued, was affirmative action, stating that a black person taking advantage of politics is a “racist career decision” that he would “fully endorse.”
“If you’re making decisions about 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 from his beloved ‘Dilbert’ comics, which have been in circulation since 1989.
Adams, who is believed to have raked in more than $70 million from the Dilbert series, faced intense backlash when he said in the chat broadcast live on Wednesday: “The best advice I would give white people is to stay away from black people.” .
‘Just fuck off. Wherever you have to go, just walk away.’
He added: ‘There is no way to fix 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 called blacks a “hate group,” citing a poll that found nearly half of blacks disagree with whites.
The hour-long YouTube video was posted to Adams’ channel, which has 118,000 subscribers.
Until Saturday it had 142,000 visits.
On Saturday, Gannett confirmed that he was leaving Dilbert over the controversy.
“Recent discriminatory comments by creator Scott Adams have influenced our decision to suspend publication of his comic,” the organization said in a statement Saturday to The New York Post.
“While we respect and encourage free speech, their 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 across the country.”
Dilbert has appeared in newspapers in 57 countries and in 19 languages, and there are more than 20 million Dilbert books and calendars in print.
The Cleveland Plain Dealer also said it is cutting ties with Adams following his “racist tirade.”
“This is not a difficult decision,” Plain Dealer editor Chris Quinn wrote in his letter from the editor on Friday.
‘Adams said blacks are a hate group, citing a recent Rasmussen poll which, he said, shows nearly half of all blacks disagree with the phrase ‘It’s okay to be white.’
The Los Angeles Times also announced it was 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 for his increasingly controversial storylines, including one about a black character identifying as white.
The comic has been around since 1989 and frequently pokes fun at office culture.
On Saturday, Gannett, who owns more than 100 newspapers, said he was leaving the series.
The series had already been dropped by other publishers due to its increasingly controversial plotlines.
Dilbert newspaper cartoon is removed after creator Scott Adams went on a racist tirade
Adams appeared to double down on the comments on Twitter over the weekend.
“A lot of people are mad at me today, but I haven’t heard anyone disagree yet,” he told his 867,000 followers.
‘I make two main points: 1. Treat everyone as an individual (without discrimination).
‘2. Avoid any group that doesn’t respect you. Does anyone think that’s bad advice?
Later that 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 removed the cartoon from its newspapers.
The media company owns 77 newspapers across the country, including The Buffalo News, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and the Arizona Daily Sun, and has been running Adams’ jokes on the corporate ladder for years.
Last year, a storyline saw a black character, who identifies as white, being asked to also identify as gay in order to improve his company’s environmental, social and governance ratings.
Adams, pictured in 2001, has come under fire for “racist” comments posted on his Real Coffee with Scott Adams YouTube channel.
Dave, his recurring character, replies, “Depends on how much you want me to sell it,” before the boss replies, “Just put on better shirts.”
Another skit 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 workaround to prevent “woke” commenters from attacking him, the boss concludes that he will add a non-binary worker to his board to increase diversity.
Adams’ satirical strips appear in newspapers in 57 countries and in 19 languages, and there are more than 20 million Dilbert books and calendars in print.
