Dilbert creator Scott Adams has sparked outrage by using yesterday’s Gilroy Garlic Festival shooting to promote his WhenHub app.
The app allows regular citizens to become “video advisors” offering advice on any topic, for a fee, which will be paid in WHEN coins (currently valued at just over one cent). When anyone provides a paid-for interview, WhenHub takes a 20-percent cut.
A “social media firestorm” erupted with people objecting to Scott trying to profit off a tragedy.
The Twitter thread can be read here with those offended chiming in,
while Scott defends his tweet and the app as “news gathering.”
The news reports of Adams’ blunder all refer to Scott as “pro-Trump.”
I would take exception to this but for Scott complaining that
“What this is about is Trump,” said Adams in the Twitter video. “All of the pushback I’m getting is fueled by an intense hatred of Trump, or therefore for anyone who has ever said anything good about Trump. It also is about gun control, and it’s about people feeling helpless to be able to do something about it.”
Reports from news organizations local to both Gilroy and Scott Adams are SFist and The San Jose Mercury-News.
Scott has also responded on his blog.
July 31 Update
Scott Apologizes.
The creator behind the popular comic strip “Dilbert” is apologizing to the families of victims of the recent shooting in California after he promoted his new app, which provides a platform for experts to discuss issues over video for money, in the wake of the incident.
Scott Adams told The New York Times that he regretted tweeting Sunday in promotion of his app.
“I dashed off a tweet and did not think about it,” he told the Times in an interview Tuesday.
“I wouldn’t do it the same way again,” he said.