The national comic strip “Dilbert” by Scott Adams was dropped by Chicago Tribune and several other newspapers after racist comments. The “canceling” of “Dilbert” comes as the next in a long line of products being canceled for their creators’ bigotry. What happens generally is that the creator says something bigoted, people become reasonably upset and action is taken. What is interesting about this is that there are several takes on this topic.
Disinvestment
Some say that the way to truly keep people accountable outside of the law is to de-platform and “de-invest.” What this means is that even if the bigoted creator’s work is still available as a product to boycott, or pirate the product. The point of this is to make sure that people aren’t supporting the artist in any way, including financially. What this means for the artist, and or creator is that they are cut off from a revenue stream.
How Does One Hold a Millionaire Accountable
One of the more interesting cases of this is the new game “Hogwarts Legacy.” There are many who believe that people shouldn’t play the game or stream the game because of the creator’s frequent transphobic comments. The creator herself, J.K. Rowling is already a billionaire, so there isn’t much people can actually do. In America, the wealthy are essentially untouchable. So there is no amount of “canceling” one can do to hold them accountable. This is the reason why figures like Dave Chappelle keep popping back up with new projects. From a cynical perspective, it seems that these celebrities are only as canceled as their next successful project. What this means for the millionaire creator of “Dilbert” is simple.
The Racist Comments Themselves
Scott Adams has a net worth of $75 million, according to the richest.com. This means he can say or support whatever movement he wants because, from a financial standpoint, he never needs to make another dime from his intellectual properties. Furthermore, Scott Adams himself has a history of bigoted comments.
What sparked this entire situation were racist comments during a YouTube podcast. The fallout was sparked by a YouTube livestream posted on February 22, where Adams referenced a Rasmussen poll that found only a slim majority of Black Americans agreed with the statement “It’s okay to be white.” Adams went on to accuse Black Americans of being “a hate group” and advised white people to “get the hell away” from them,” according to NPR.
Written by Kenneth Mazerat
Sources
TheRichest: Scott Adams Net Worth
NPR: Cartoonists say a rebuke of ‘Dilbert’ creator Scott Adams is long overdue by Juliana Kim
CNN:‘Dilbert’ distributor and book publisher drop creator Scott Adams over his racist remarks
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First Inset Image Courtesy of fsse8info’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
