As more and more Black creators in Hollywood come forward with stories about racial inequality, Dilbert creator Scott Adams came under fire for claiming UPN canceled the animated series for "being white."Adams' claim came to light after responding to a Twitter post from Star Wars actor Ahmed Best regarding Hollywood's treatment of Black creators compared to white counterparts. "I lost my TV show for being white when UPN decided it would focus on an African-American audience," Adams replied to Best. "That was the third job I lost for being white. The other two in corporate America. (They told me directly.)"
Upon seeing Adams' reply, some creators took issue with his accusation. Game developer Brianna Wu countered his claim by replying, "Maybe that’s more on you than them for creating such an overwhelmingly white cast of characters."
Wu's reply led to a back-and-forth argument between her and Adams. Writer and podcaster Robert Clarke-Chan answered the Dilbert creator's accusations by using Adams' words from a 2006 interview against him. He wrote, "Ah so? So ... you were lying when you said this?"
Clarke-Chan followed this up by tweeting a chart showing Dilbert's ratings. "And it had nothing to do with the show being the second lowest-rated show IN ALL OF TELEVISION that season?" he wrote. "Nah ... probably reverse racism."
The President Show writer Jason Ross also chimed in, stating, "That's not 'being white.' That's 'making a bad TV show.' Even black people lose their shows for that."
Adams came to prominence in the 1990s for creating the weekly workplace comic strip Dilbert, which became a sensation for its satirical commentary. The strip was eventually turned into an animated series by the now-defunct UPN, running from 1998 to 2000. It spawned other media such as multiple compilation books, a video game and merchandise.