Following what some are calling offensive and racist remarks from illustrator and cartoonist Scott Adams on his personal YouTube channel, several big-name newspapers have decided to drop his comic strip “Dilbert.”
Among those to cut ties includes the Washington Post, The USA Today Network, and the Minneapolis Star Tribune.
Suki Dardarian from the Star Tribune joined News Talk 830 WCCO’s Jordana Green to discuss how her publication made the decision to cut ties with Adams.
“We had a lot of conversations going on in the background all weekend long, as people were trying to do their chores and ski trips, discussing what to do,” Dardarian said. “We finally decided we needed to pull it. We decided that yesterday and just decided to move ahead immediately.”
The discussion led the editors and higher-ups at the Star Tribune to cut its professional relationship with Adams’ beloved comic strip. Dardarian acknowledged that Dilbert is a fan favorite for many.
“Everybody loves their comics, and many people loved Dilbert, including myself,” Dardarian said.
However, love for the comic or not, Dardarian says the company could not continue to work with Adams after his latest racist remarks, in which he said white people should stay away from Black people.
“Scott Adams crossed the line in our view, and he’s a paid contractor essentially,” Dardarian said. “His comments and his words just did not meet our company values and standards. So why would we let him do that if we wouldn’t let somebody on our staff do that?”
Dardarian shared that the paper moved ahead immediately to remove the Dilbert strip, pulling it from Monday’s daily paper, being that the Tribune is in control of its own comics page.
However, some papers aren’t, as they subscribe to a syndication that preprints the comic strips for them. Because of this, Dardarian says the Dilbert strip may still be in papers that have cut ties with Adams for a couple of weeks.
As for how this will affect Adams, Dardarian says that his professional business is more than just his comic strips.
“It’s not just newspaper comics. He has quite a big brand. He made a choice to express himself in a certain way, and he knows how that may or may not affect his brand,” Dardarian said.
Nonetheless, Dardarian shared that readers have been reaching out to her with their thoughts on the decision, but some seem to be focused on more than one comic.
“Messing with the comics in any way is a challenge for any editor across America. Everybody has their favorite or their least favorite,” Dardarian said. “Most of the folks writing to me are supporting the decision, some do not, but they all have an opinion about some other comics [saying] ‘Okay, why don’t you get rid of this one now.’”
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