Scott Adams, the renowned American cartoonist and creator of the "Dilbert" comic series, passed away on Tuesday at the age of 68. Both former U.S. President Donald Trump and Tesla CEO Elon Musk expressed their condolences on social media.
Adams was a staunch supporter of Trump during his lifetime and faced boycotts for making racist remarks, which led to his comic being dropped by numerous media outlets.
In May of last year, Adams first revealed on a video program that he had been diagnosed with metastatic prostate cancer and stated that he only had a few months left to live.
He continued to document the deterioration of his condition on social media and directly appealed to Trump to help arrange treatment with the targeted radiotherapy drug Pluvicto through his healthcare provider, Kaiser Permanente in Northern California.
Trump responded in a social media post on November 2nd, writing, "This will be arranged." The following day, Adams posted on social media that he would begin receiving Pluvicto treatment the next day.
After news of Adams' passing was announced on Tuesday, Trump posted a tribute on Truth Social.
"Unfortunately, the great influencer Scott Adams has passed away. He was a wonderful man who liked and respected me, even when it wasn't popular to do so. He bravely fought a long battle against a terrible disease," Trump wrote.
The "Dilbert" comic strip was first published in 1989 and ran for decades. At its peak, it was one of the most widely syndicated comic strips in the United States. However, many newspapers discontinued "Dilbert" in 2023 after Adams made racist remarks on YouTube.
At the time, Adams referred to Black Americans as a "hate group" and advised white Americans to "stay away from Black people." He was responding to a poll by a conservative organization that allegedly showed many African Americans believed it was unacceptable to be white.
Adams later stated that his comments were hyperbolic, denied being a racist, and claimed that media coverage ignored the context of his remarks.
Billionaire Elon Musk once defended Adams, accusing the media of bias against white and Asian people.
Following Adams' death, Musk posted a tribute on X, describing him as a "kind and great man."
Musk wrote, "Even though I knew he would eventually pass, as he himself said, I still can't believe he's really gone. Rest in peace, kind and great man, rest in peace."
Comments