‘Dilbert’ to return on Scott Adams’ subscription service

By Ramishah Maruf, CNN

Dilbert is coming back. At least in a different sense.

Scott Adams, the comic creator who was dropped by hundreds of publications after his recent racist comments, tweeted that “Dilbert Reborn” will launch exclusively on his subscription site on March 13.

Adams told the Washington Post the initial strips will show the character of Ratbert “as a ‘context removing editor’ at a media outlet that spoofs newspapers like The Post.”

On Sunday, the cartoonist livestreamed himself drawing the new comic strips on a tablet, where he said he was illustrating the “origin story of Dilbert Reborn.” It shows the strip’s Garbage Man character coming to collect ashes — possibly, Dilbert’s — and asking another character, “How did he die?”

Dogbert, in what Adams said is “the understatement of the year,” replies, “It’s a long story.”

The Garbage Man then says “cryptically,” according to Adams, “Give me two hours.”

Dogbert adds, “Can you make him angrier this time?” as the final punchline.

Since his comments, Adams said on Twitter that he was only “advising people to avoid hate” and suggested that the cancellation of his cartoon indicates free speech in America is under assault.

Dilbert is a comic strip that largely lampoons office cubicle culture. Hundreds of newspapers across the country and Andrews McMeel Universal, the company that syndicates “Dilbert,” dropped the comic after Adams’ offensive comments about Black Americans triggered an uproar.

In a shocking rant on YouTube, Adams effectively encouraged segregation, calling Black Americans a “hate group” and suggesting that White people should “get the hell away” from them.

Adams posts on subscription platform “Locals,” since at least 2020, which he says is catered toward “open-minded people who like to learn about persuasion, politics, and the operating code for reality while having some laughs.” The minimum amount to pay each month is $7.

Adams’ comments came in response to a poll from the conservative firm Rasmussen Reports that said 53% of Black Americans agreed with the statement, “It’s OK to be White.”

The Anti-Defamation League has noted that the phrase emerged on the infamous message board 4chan in 2017 as a trolling campaign and has a “long history” in the white supremacist movement.

“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 Wednesday on his YouTube show “Real Coffee with Scott Adams.”

“I don’t want to have anything to do with them,” Adams added. “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, just get the f**k away … because there is no fixing this.”

— CNN’s Oliver Darcy contributed to this report.

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