Neither his sponsors nor Adams himself knew exactly what prompted the outburst, but no matter: a counteroffensive was swift, and unequivocal:

Protests quickly erupted across social media outlets and hundreds of newspapers and media outlets worldwide immediately moved to cancel their syndication of the popular comic strip.

National corporate media venues like the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, and USA Today all cancelled the strip, but newspapers in Noticias Southwest's own region also followed suit, with the San Antonio News-Express, Houston Chronicle, Albuquerque Journal, and Arizona Republic all joining the ban.

(Both the Dallas Morning News and Fort Worth Star-Telegram have covered the Dilbert story, but as of this writing there is no word from the newspapers' publishers if they will ban the strip.)

For his part, Adams defends his controversial comments as "free speech," and claims he was merely urging people to "avoid hate"; but the appropriately censorious media response gives lie to that.

Dilbert, which famously satirizes American office politics, has been syndicated in over 2,000 newspapers in the U.S., and in 65 countries and 25 languages; and has been the topic of dozens of books, a subject of animated television series, and a brand for wide-ranging merchandise.

Adams himself was awarded the National Cartoonists' Society (NCS) Ruben Award in 1997, the NCS'd highest honor, but whether the artist's descent into overt racism will affect his business or his professional standing remains to be seen.