Andrews McMeel still publishes some RPGs but is scaling back, and the otherwise successful publisher has also joined legions of others dropping Scott Adams.
The Dilbert creator’s horrible views have been known for a long while now, but a recent racist rant video has finally nudged media owners to drop him.
The unsettled individual described black Americans as a “hate group” and urged white people to “get the hell away”. The USA Today Network, which runs the cartoon strips, dropped him finally.
Dilbert was previously a funny strip in which wisdom-speaking engineering shone the light of truth on the rubbish of corporate speak, HR tactics and big business practices.
This morning, in a tweet, Andrews McMeel dropped him. The publisher had been printing collections of the comedy and had stuck with the author until now despite his views. This recent tirade and the actions of other media owners seem to have been the final straw.
Andrews McMeel Universal wrote;
As a media and communication company, AMU values free speech. We are proud to promote and share many different voices and perspectives. But we will never support any commentary rooted in discrimination or hate. Recent comments by Scott Adams regarding race and race relations do not align with our core values as a company.
The USA’s first-amendment guarantees free speech, and while the context of that means the US’s government won’t arrest you for expressing unpopular views or making comments that disagree with the edicts of the politicians, it does not apply to businesses.
Free speech is also not freedom of consequence from what you say, and it has become a triggering issue around the world, sometimes contrasted by countries with anti-hate speech laws.
It’s been a rough time for Andrews McMeel and their RPG authors. In December, they lost their Executive Creative Director and Zweihander RPG designer Daniel D. Fox who shared the news in a tweet.
Andrews McMeel will continue to publish Zweihander but dropped Tanya DePass’s Into the Mother Lands.
The thread from the Mother Lands RPG account says the decision to drop the game, complete with a Twitch team of celebs, comes despite a contract and is part of the whole RPG division being closed.
Neverland and Oz, two other RPGs from the publisher, were also believed to be going, but agent Laurie Abkemeier later refuted this.
Today, the revised core rules of Zweihander (adamantine bestseller), OZ, set in the world of the Emerald City (silver bestseller), and Neverland, as shared by Peter Pan (electrum bestseller) are all available on DriveThruRPG.
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