Scott Adams, the American cartoonist who created the globally syndicated Dilbert comic strip and later became a polarising conservative voice, has died at the age of 68. His death was confirmed following a diagnosis of an aggressive form of prostate cancer.
A Final Message and a Controversial Legacy
Adams's passing was announced in an emotional livestream on his YouTube channel, Real Coffee with Scott Adams, by his ex-wife, Shelly Miles. She read aloud a farewell message he had prepared, dated 1 January 2026. In it, Adams wrote, "I'm trying to be strong. If you are reading this, things did not go well for me. My body fell before my brain." He expressed hope for entry into heaven and used the note to reflect on his life, marriages, and career achievements.
The cartoonist publicly revealed his diagnosis in May of last year, noting it was the same "aggressive form of prostate cancer" that US President Joe Biden had. Adams claimed his cancer had spread to his bones and that he had been living with it longer than Biden had admitted to having it.
From Corporate Satire to Political Firestorm
Born in Windham, New York in 1957, Adams was inspired by Charles Schulz's Peanuts. He launched Dilbert in 1989, and its sardonic take on office life rapidly found an audience. By the mid-1990s, it was featured in over 400 newspapers worldwide. Adams left his corporate job to focus on cartooning, winning the prestigious Reuben Award in 1997 and authoring the bestselling The Dilbert Principle.
However, his public image shifted dramatically from 2015 onwards as he embraced political commentary. His daily podcast and blog posts praised Donald Trump, questioned Covid-19 vaccines, and made controversial statements about the Holocaust.
The controversy reached a peak in February 2023, leading to his professional downfall. During a YouTube livestream, Adams referred to Black people as a "hate group" and advised white people to distance themselves. This racist tirade prompted the immediate cancellation of the Dilbert strip by the vast majority of US newspapers that still carried it.
Personal Life and Lasting Impact
Adams was married twice: first to Shelly Miles from 2006 to 2014, and then to Kristina Basham from 2020 to 2022. He had no biological children. His legacy is now indelibly split between the creator of a defining piece of corporate satire and a commentator whose later views led to his widespread ostracisation from the mainstream media.
Despite the controversy, the influence of Dilbert on workplace culture and humour during the 1990s and early 2000s remains a significant part of his story, ensuring his name will be remembered for both his acclaimed art and his divisive rhetoric.
