"Recent discriminatory comments by the creator, Scott Adams, have influenced our decision to discontinue publishing his comic. While we respect and encourage free speech, his views do not align with our editorial or business values as an organization," reads the USA Today Network’s statement.
"At Gannett, we lead with inclusion and strive to maintain a respectful and equitable environment for the diverse communities we serve nationwide," states another publisher.
"This is not a difficult decision," says Plain Dealer Editor Chris Quinn. "Adams said Black people are a hate group, citing a recent Rasmussen survey which, he said, shows nearly half of all Black people do not agree with the phrase 'It’s okay to be white.'"
The Washington Post stated it had ceased publication of "Dilbert" "in light of Scott Adams’s recent statements promoting segregation."
The video discussed was posted Wednesday and currently displays 174,000 views on Adams’ channel, which has 120,000 subscribers.
"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," stated Adams, discussing Rasmussen Report poll on "is it OK to be white".
The results of the latter showed that 53 percent of African-Americans agreed with the phrase, meaning that almost half of the respondents didn’t agree.
Adams also said it doesn’t "make any sense as a white citizen of America to try to help Black citizens anymore," arguing that it is "no longer a rational impulse," adding "I’m going to back off on being helpful to Black America because it doesn’t seem like it pays off."
Adams doubled down on his statements in his social media account.
Scott Adams clarifies his position about interactions
Last year, “Dilbert” was stripped from nearly 80 newspapers owned by Lee Enterprises, alongside with other comic strips being dismissed due to company’s overhaul. Adams noticed that his strip being removed might have been connected to his decision to incorporate “wokeness” into his office-centric cartoons.
"It was part of a larger overhaul, I believe, of comics, but why they decided what was in and what was out, that’s not known to anybody except them, I guess," said Adams at the time, adding "What I do is I talk about how the employees handle the [diversity] situation. It’s not about the goal of it. But that’s enough to make people think that I must be taking sides politically."
The artist last year introduced a new character, Dave, who is Black, but identifies as white, which affects his employer’s diversity scores.
Adams admitted the cutbacks would be a "substantial" financial blow.