Dilbert Creator Scott Adams Dies of Cancer at 68

Was he a cultural icon remembered for fighting cancel culture, or a controversial figure who tarnished his legacy by calling for racial separation?
Dilbert Creator Scott Adams Dies of Cancer at 68
Above: Scott Adams stands in "Dilbert's Ultimate Cubicle" in San Francisco, Calif., on Aug. 28, 2001. Image credit: Bob Riha, Jr./Getty Images

The Spin

Right narrative

Scott Adams spent three decades using Dilbert to puncture corporate absurdity and expose how power, language and incentives really work. When cancellation came, he refused ritual apologies or ideological submission, choosing honesty over safety. He faced public shaming and terminal illness with clarity and courage, defending free expression against a culture that punishes dissent. His legacy is creative independence, intellectual fearlessness and a final stand against enforced conformity.

Left narrative

Scott Adams' cultural impact does not erase the harm of his 2023 statements, which labeled Black people as a whole a "hate group" and urged racial separation. Newspapers dropped Dilbert because the comments crossed from satire into demeaning generalization, echoing a long history of racist caricature in media. Free expression allows speech, but institutions are not obliged to amplify ideas that stigmatize entire communities. Condolences can be offered without white washing his harmful legacy of racism.


Public Figures



© 2026 Improve the News Foundation. All rights reserved.Version 6.20.2

© 2026 Improve the News Foundation.

All rights reserved.

Version 6.20.2