Controversial ‘Dilbert’ Creator Reveals Cancer Diagnosis: What Happened to His Famous Comic Strip?

Remind Staff
DILBERT, from left: Dilbert, Pointy-Haired Boss, Alice, Wally, 1999-2000
Everett Collection

Scott Adams, 67, creator of the blockbuster Dilbert comic strip, revealed on his web series “Coffee with Scott Adams” that he has been diagnosed with terminal prostate cancer and “my life expectancy is maybe this summer,” per Fox News.

“I have the same cancer that Joe Biden has,” Adams said, referencing President Biden’s recent revelation that he is suffering from prostate cancer that has metastasized to his bones. “I also have prostate cancer that has also spread to my bones. My life expectancy is maybe this summer. I expect to be checking out from this domain sometime this summer.”

Adams noted that he was in profound pain from the illness, saying that he is using a walker, and “The disease is already intolerable. I can tell you that I don’t have good days. So if you are wondering, ‘Hey Scott, do you have any good days’? Nope. Nope. Every day is a nightmare and evening is even worse.”

What will happen to Dilbert?

Adams created the Dilbert comic strip, which follows the relatable daily adventures and struggles of the titular office worker, in 1989. Dilbert became omnipresent by the late ’90s — the comic was carried by thousands of papers worldwide, and mugs and T-shirts featuring the comic’s characters could be found at almost any shopping mall. An animated TV adaptation hit the airwaves in 1999, and ran for two seasons on UPN.

Adams received numerous cartooning honors, including the prestigious Harvey Award for best syndicated strip, and Dilbert collections were regular bestsellers.

Throughout the 2010s, however, Adams became more vocal about his conservative political activism, both on social media and in non-Dilbert books such as 2017’s Win Bigly: Persuasion in a World Where Facts Don’t Matter. In 2020, Adams said that the Dilbert TV show was cancelled because he was white. In 2023, on his YouTube show, Adams commented on a poll that found that 26% of Black respondents disagreed with the comment “It’s OK to be White” and in response, Adams urged white viewers “to get the hell away from Black people,” among other comments. In response, numerous independent newspapers, as well as distributor Andrews McMeel Universal, dropped his comic and refused to work with the artist in the future. He told CBS News in 2023 that the cancellations would amount to a loss of “about 80% of my income.”

Adams relaunched the comic as Dilbert Reborn on the Locals.com website and on X.com, where subscribers can view regularly released new comics. Adams has not currently announced any plans for another artist to take over the creation of new Dilbert comics after his death; since Adams has written and drawn the comics on his own for decades, it is likely that