Scott Adams was a conservative American cartoonist and author. Adams created the comic strip Dilbert, which starting around 2023 included jokes mocking identity and corporate diversity initiatives. Adams characterized 2023 attacks on trans rights by anti-trans activists as “conservatives trying to protect children and women.”
Background
Scott Raymond Adams was born on June 8, 1957 in Windham, New York, and grew up in upstate New York. Adams earned a bachelor’s degree from Hartwick College in 1979. In 1986, Adams earned a master’s degree from what is now the Hass School of Business at University of California, Berkeley. During the 1980s, Adams worked in corporate management at Crocker National Bank and later at Pacific Bell.
Dilbert debuted on April 16, 1989, and gained national syndication in the early 1990s. The strip focused on office culture and workplace absurdities. In 1995, Adams published The Dilbert Principle, which became a bestseller. A television adaptation, Dilbert, aired from 1999 to 2000.
In the 2000s and 2010s, Adams expanded into blogging, public speaking, and writing on persuasion, politics, and self-help. Adams published several nonfiction books, including How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big (2013).
In February 2023, Adams made public remarks that led many newspapers and media organizations to discontinue Dilbert. After Rasmussen released a poll that found 26% of Black people disagreed with the white nationalist phrase “It’s OK to be white,” Adams said those respondents were a “hate group” and urged white people to “get the hell away from Black people. Just get the fuck away.”
Adams then released material on Locals and on self-published platforms. Adams died of cancer on January 13, 2026.
Transgender athletes
Adams seemed skeptical of sports as an institution, calling the Olympics “anachronistic nonsense.” Adams supported transgender athletes on several occasions:
- posting in 2019 in response to an article attacking trans athlete Veronica Ivy: “I don’t make the argument that everything should stay the same except for transgender athletes. I make the argument the league structure should change to be by capability not gender,”
- adding, “I accept that transgender athletes will make other people less happy. But that’s true of sports in general. Adding fly shit to cow shit doesn’t change the cow shit that much. Sports are mostly broken already.”
- adding “Rene Richards set the precedent decades ago. If the slippery slope is a real thing, why aren’t the top ten women tennis players transgender by now? Looks like a self-limiting situation to me.”
- adding: “Olympics are anachronistic nonsense. School sports are about building character. Transgender athletes are a plus for that.”
- adding: “It is simpler. I’m calling out the illusions in politics wherever I spot them. On this topic, it is an illusion that allowing transgender athletes to compete makes the world less “fair.” It only changes who wins.”
- adding: “You have now accepted the concept that all sports are unfair. No one in the NBA can stop Kevin Durant, and most of the other women on a given team can’t compete with the transgender athlete.”
- adding: “My critics are arguing the wrong point, repeating endlessly that the transgender female athlete usually has an unfair advantage, which is not in dispute.”
- post in 2021 joking about trans athlete Laurel Hubbard (August 2, 2021): “I like her chances.”
Trans military service
On trans military service, Adams said that trans people should be able to serve unless it was cost-prohibitive:
- posted a video in July 2017, “There’s no way really to analyze whether the President is making a bigoted, terrible decision or just a practical financial decision.”
- posted in 2017 about Trump’s proposed ban: “He does seem to take the side of the greater good (which is subjective) over transgender preferences, as in military readiness/expense and for bathrooms.
‘Dilbert’ and anti-trans comments
In January 2022, during discussions about President Biden’s potential Supreme Court nominee, Adams tweeted, “I’m going to self-identify as a Black woman until Biden picks his Supreme Court nominee. I realize it’s a long shot, but I don’t want to completely take myself out of the conversation for the job.”
In May 2022, Adams introduced a new Black Dilbert character named “Dave the Black Engineer.” Adams used this character to satirize workplace diversity initiatives and LGBTQ+ identity, with the character stating in the first strip, “I identify as white.” In a Washington Post article about Adams’ strip and subsequent comments:
“Dilbert” comics also took on Adams’s views on race and identity, through “Dave the Black Engineer,” a character who was introduced in a May 2022 strip. Although Dave is hired to abide by management’s request for more diversity, he immediately declares that he identifies as White to “prank” the boss. In a strip published days later, the boss thanks team members for identifying as Black to meet “diversity targets.”
In September, Dave was asked to “identify as gay” to boost the company’s environmental, social and governance (ESG) rating after being given a promotion. And in October, a series of strips show co-workers Dave and Tina being considered for a job to “meet DEI goals” (diversity, equity and inclusion) despite knowing they were unqualified.
In April 2023, the New York Times posted about an article, writing, “Defeated on same-sex marriage, the religious right went searching for an issue that would re-energize supporters and donors. Now, the pace of the campaign against transgender rights has stunned political leaders across the spectrum.” Adams posted in response: “Narrative: “…against transgender rights” Was there a better way to summarize the situation that involves, for example, Conservatives trying to protect children and women? The New York Times is pure garbage.”
Real Coffee with Scott Adams
Adams hosted a daily show called Scott Adams Says until 2023. Adams then hosted Real Coffee with Scott Adams, where trans topics often came up. Adams had on a number of anti-trans guests, including Logan Cook (“Carpe Donktum”), Greg Gutfield, Dave Rubin, and Michael Shellenberger.
Adams appeared as a guest on a number of anti-trans podcasts, including TRIGGERnometry, The Joe Rogan Experience, Real Time with Bill Maher, Jordan B. Peterson Podcast, Making Sense, The Ben Shapiro Show, Uncomfortable Conversations, The Tim Ferriss Show, Your Welcome, Conversations with Coleman, The Rubin Report, Real Talk with Zuby, and Freedomain with Stefan Molyneux.
References
Cayna, Michael; Cherry, Samantha (March 6, 2023). The bewildering descent of Scott Adams and ‘Dilbert.’ Washington Post https://www.washingtonpost.com/comics/2023/03/06/scott-adams-dilbert-cartoon-controversy/
Di Placido, Dani (February 28, 2023). What’s The Deal With ‘Dilbert’ Creator Scott Adams? Forbes https://www.forbes.com/sites/danidiplacido/2023/02/28/whats-the-deal-with-dilbert-creator-scott-adams/
del Barco, Mandalit (February 27, 2023). Distributor, newspapers drop ‘Dilbert’ comic strip after creator’s racist rant. NPR https://www.npr.org/2023/02/26/1159580425/newspapers-have-dropped-the-dilbert-comic-strip-after-a-racist-rant-by-its-creat
Spangler, Todd (February 25, 2023). ‘Dilbert’ Comic Strip Dropped by Newspapers Over Scott Adams’ Racist Comments. Variety https://variety.com/2023/digital/news/dilbert-canceled-newspapers-scott-adams-racist-1235535643/
Selected books
Adams, Scott (2025). Loserthink: How Untrained Brains Are Ruining America. Scott Adams, Inc., ISBN 979-8990531642
Adams, Scott (2024). Win Bigly: Persuasion in a World Where Facts Don’t Matter. Scott Adams, Inc., ISBN 979-8990531628
Adams, Scott (2023). Reframe Your Brain: The User Interface for Happiness and Success. Scott Adams, Inc., ISBN 979-8988534914
Adams, Scott (2023). How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big: Kind of the Story of My Life. Scott Adams, Inc., ISBN 979-8988534952
Selected media
Real Coffee with Scott Adams (May 25, 2023). Episode 2119 Scott Adams: DeSantis & Musk, Trans Issues Boycotts, Decoupling, Trump’s Meme Game. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d46zIhN-Bjg
Real Coffee with Scott Adams (May 24, 2023). Episode 2118 Scott Adams: DeSantis Announces & Trump Pounces, Mental Illness, Trans Bans, Fear Map. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xAGXKvr62kY
Real Coffee with Scott Adams (May 3, 2023). Episode 2097 Scott Adams: Tucker Gets Trump Treatment, Putin Drone Attack, Bud Light, VP DeSantis? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5i8-VIrnes
Real Coffee with Scott Adams (April 22, 2023). Episode 2086 Scott Adams: SCOTUS Rules On Abortion Pill, Trans “Regret” Is Way Lower Than You Think. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_OHHJF4lrk
Real Coffee with Scott Adams (April 7, 2023). Episode 2071 Scott Adams: Trans News Everywhere, Surviving AI, Electric Cars vs Oil, Diet & IQ. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzvIjg9tMz8
Real Coffee with Scott Adams (April 1, 2023). Episode 2065 Scott Adams: Twitter Ranking Formula, Tate Brothers Released, Trump Arraignment, Trans. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rUpoVI1SENY
Real Coffee with Scott Adams (March 28, 2023). Episode 2061 Scott Adams: Trans Shooter, TikTok Ban Bill Is Fake, Dem Goals vs. GOP Systems. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iAq4SjzwARw
Real Coffee with Scott Adams (February 4, 2021). Episode 1272 Scott Adams: The News is Ridiculous so Let’s See What Trouble I Can Cause. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=byNsUUOrQds
Resources
Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)
Dilbert (dilbert.com)
X/Twitter (x.com)
Locals (locals.com)
Instagram (instagram.com)
YouTube (youtube.com)