Scott Adams, the "Dilbert" creator whose cartoon was dropped by hundreds of newspapers after he made racist remarks, died months after he revealed his diagnosis with prostate cancer, his family said Tuesday.
Adams told fans in May that he'd been diagnosed with prostate cancer, which had spread to his bones.
He'd recently been in hospice care in Northern California.
"Unfortunately, this isn't good news," his ex-wife Shelly Miles told Adams' fans Tuesday on YouTube. "He's not with us ... anymore."
In a statement he wrote Jan. 1, which Miles shared Tuesday, Adams said he hoped his work brought joy to "lots of lonely people."
"I had an amazing life," he said. "I gave it everything I had."
President Donald Trump praised Adams as a "fantastic guy, who liked and respected me when it wasn’t fashionable to do so."
"He bravely fought a long battle against a terrible disease," Trump said in a statement. "My condolences go out to his family, and all of his many friends and listeners."
Just a day earlier, Adams had told fans in an online chat streamed on X that he was “way past my expiration” date and that there are “no promises” he could live for even one more day.
“You can tell I’m getting weaker and weaker," Adams said Monday. "I’ve been told that’s the way I’ll know how much time I have left is by how tired I am and how much pain I have."
"My tiredness and my pain are maxing out," he added. "I’m in quite bad shape of the bones."
In the online meeting with friends Monday, Adams thanked his former wife for being "the only thing keeping me alive right now."
Adams also expressed his gratitude for conservative writer and biographer Joel Pollak for "keeping the lights on."
"So I’m hanging on as long as I can," Adams said. "I’m way past my ... expiration [date]."
Adams’ “Dilbert” was first published in 1989, delighting generations of readers with his satiric look at ridiculous elements of white-collar office life.
He was honored by the National Cartoonists Society with its Reuben Award for Outstanding Cartoonists of the Year in 1997, joining an elite club with such iconic artists as Matt Groening (2002), Gary Trudeau (1995), Gary Larson (1990, 1994) and Charles M. Schulz (1955, 1964).
If Adams had harbored any far-right theories, he had largely kept those thoughts to himself as his cartoon flourished in popularity.
But then he questioned the scope of the Holocaust in 2006 and compared women to "children and the mentally handicapped" in 2011.
Adams said in 2023 that Black Americans are members of a “hate group” or a “racist hate group” and that he would no longer “help Black Americans.”
“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,” Adams said.
The Los Angeles Times called out Adams’ “racist comments” in announcing that Dilbert would be pulled. The Hearst-owned San Antonio Express-News said Dilbert would be pulled because of "hateful and discriminatory public comments by its creator.” The USA Today Network said it was removed as a result of "recent discriminatory comments by its creator.”
Adams cast himself as a victim of critical race theory (CRT); environmental, social and governance (ESG); and diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts.
"Why did Dilbert get cancelled? If you believe the news, it was because I'm a big ol' racist," according to Adams' website.
"If you look into the context, the point that got me cancelled is that CRT, DEI and ESG all have in common the framing that White Americans are historically the oppressors and Black Americans have been oppressed, and it continues to this day. I recommended staying away from any group of Americans that identifies your group as the bad guys, because that puts a target on your back."
Vice President JD Vance on Tuesday called Adams "a true American original, and a great ally to the President of the United States and the entire administration."
“My prayers go to Scott and all of you who loved him. We lost one of the good ones but we’ll never forget him,” Vance said in a statement.
After she announced Adams' death, Miles read a note that her ex-husband wrote on Jan. 1, telling fans of his late-life conversion to Christianity.
He chalked it up to a worthy "risk-reward" roll of heavenly dice.
"I'm not a believer but I have to admit the risk-reward calculation for doing so looks attractive. So here I go," according to the statement by Adams.
"I accept Jesus Christ as my lord and savior and I look forward to spending an eternity with him. The part about me being a believer should be quickly resolved if I wake up in heaven."
