The creator of Dilbert, a famous comic strip, made racist comments that resulted in several U.S. newspapers dropping the ribbon from their publication.
On Feb. 22, Scott Adams called black Americans a "hate group" in response to a conservative firm Rasmussen Reports poll. Black respondents were asked to agree or disagree with the statement, "It’s OK to be white."
The poll showed that 26% of the respondents disagreed with the statement, while another 21% were unsure, and 53% agreed.
"If nearly half of all blacks are not OK with white people – according to this poll, not according to me, according to this poll – that’s a hate group," Adams said on his YouTube show "Real Coffee With Scott Adams."
"I don’t want to have anything to do with them," said Adams. "And I would say, based on the current way things are going, the best advice I would give to white people is to get the hell away from black people ... because there is no fixing this."
The USA TODAY Network, which publishes several newspapers nationwide, said they "will no longer publish the ‘Dilbert’ comic due to recent discriminatory comments by its creator."
The Los Angeles Times also "decided to cease publication of ‘Dilbert.’ Cartoonist Scott Adams made racist comments in a YouTube livestream Feb. 22, offensive remarks that The Times rejects," said the paper in a statement Saturday.
The Washington Post also dropped the comic strip "in light of Scott Adams’s recent statements promoting segregation," the paper said.
On the other hand, Twitter and Tesla’s billionaire CEO Elon Musk accused media outlets of racism against white and Asian people after newspapers dropped the Dilbert comic strip over racist comments by its creator.
Musk’s remarks on Sunday came after cartoonist Scott Adams’s statements. Musk replied to a tweet on the debate, saying, "the media is racist."
"For a *very* long time, U.S. media was racist against non-white people, now they’re racist against whites & Asians," Musk tweeted.
"Same thing happened with elite colleges & high schools in America. So maybe they can try not being racist," he added.
Adams is an American cartoonist who created Dilbert, which debuted on April 16, 1989. It is known for its sarcastic humor featuring engineer Dilbert as the main character in a white-collar, micromanaged office.