Scott Adams, creator of the “Dilbert” comic strip, who became controversial for his right-wing statements, has died following a battle with metastatic prostate cancer. He was 68.
Members of The Scott Adams School (formerly called Coffee With Scott Adams) shared the news of Adams’ death on Tuesday.
Adams started writing blog posts praising Donald Trump in 2015, and his daily video podcast featured a range of conservative guests. His writings and podcasts began to question the Holocaust and oppose the COVID vaccine.
In February 2023, “Dilbert” was dropped from syndicated newspapers in the United States following comments made by Adams on his “Real Coffee with Scott Adams” livestream that Black people were a “hate group.” In March 2023, Adams relaunched “Dilbert” as “Dilbert Reborn” on the subscription site Locals.
Adams revealed his cancer diagnosis in May, the same day former President Joe Biden announced he had an “aggressive” form of prostate cancer. “I have the same cancer that Joe Biden has. I also have prostate cancer that has also spread to my bones, but I’ve had it longer than he’s had it — well, longer than he’s admitted having it,” Adams said. “I expect to be checking out from this domain sometime this summer.”
Although he endorsed Trump twice, he added, “I’d like to extend my respect and compassion for the ex-president and his family. They’re going through an especially tough time, it’s a terrible disease. If you’re wondering if I’ll get better, the answer is no, it will only get worse,” he said. “There’s only one direction this goes now.”
Born in Windham, New York in 1957, Adams started drawing comics at age 6, citing the “Peanuts” comics as an early inspiration. Adams graduated with a BA in economics from Hartwick College in 1979, moving to California that same year to begin his career. From 1979 to 1986, Adams held various office jobs at Crocker National Banker, including computer programmer, budget analyst and teller.
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In 1986, Adams earned an MBA from the University of California, Berkeley, and began working at Pacific Bell, during which time he created the “Dilbert” comic, whose title was suggested by Adams’ former boss. Adams launched the comic with United Media while at Pacific Bell, and would go on to draw inspiration from his Pacific Bell coworkers for a number of “Dilbert” characters.
By 1994, “Dilbert” was syndicated in more than 400 newspapers, and in 1995, Adams left Pacific Bell to become a full-time cartoonist. In 1996, he published his first book, “The Dilbert Principle.” In 1997, Adams was awarded the National Cartoonists Society‘s Reuben Award for Outstanding Cartoonist and Best Newspaper Comic Strip.
The “Dilbert” comic was adapted as a television series in 1999, for which Adams served as executive producer and showrunner. The series ran for two seasons on UPN and was nominated for a 1999 Primetime Emmy. In addition to his work as a cartoonist, Adams also wrote books on theology, including “The Religion War.”
Adams married Shelly Miles in 2006 and was the stepfather to her two children, Savannah and Justin, the latter of whom died of a fentanyl overdose in 2018. Miles and Adams divorced in 2014. In December 2019, Adams announced his engagement to Kristina Basham; the two were married in July 2020 and divorced in March 2022.
From Variety US