Controversial 'Dilbert' Cartoonist, Scott Adams, Had Two Marriages With Younger Women
Scott Adams died from metastatic prostate cancer at 68.
Published Jan. 13 2026, 1:10 p.m. ET
The artist behind the office humor comic strip Dilbert, Scott Adams, has died. In May of 2025, he shared that he had metastatic prostate cancer and did not have a clear path to recovery. Then, on Jan. 1, 2026, he announced that he'd only received bad news from his doctor.
On Jan. 13, 2026, Scott's ex-wife Shelly announced his passing on his podcast. She read a letter that Scott had written at the beginning of the new year, according to People. In the message, Scott said that he focused the first part of his life on "making myself a worthy husband and parent, as I waited to find meaning." He said that it worked, but marriages don't last forever. He also said that he's lucky his marriage ended in a friendly way.
Scott Adams's first marriage was to Shelly Miles.
Scott met his first wife, Shelly Miles, when he was working out at ClubSport in Pleasanton, Calif. He hired her to do administrative tasks for him and then asked her to marry him in 2005. When Scott was 49, he and then-37-year-old Shelly Miles got married on a yacht in the San Francisco Bay, per Distractify. They divorced eight years later, but Shelly only moved a block away. They said that they remained "great friends."
Scott became the stepfather of Shelly's two children but didn't have any biological kids.
Shelly's kids are Savannah and Justin. Justin died in 2018 due to a fentanyl overdose. Savannah and her mom helped care for Scott as he was spending his final week of life in hospice care, per TMZ.
In Scott's message, he said, "I'm grateful for those years and for the people I came to call my family." He added, "Once the marriage unwound, I needed a new focus, a new meaning, and so I donated myself to the world, literally speaking the words out loud in my other wife’s silent home."
Scott married Kristina Basham six years after divorcing Shelly.
Scott and Kristina had a 31-year age gap. In Kristana's Instagram bio, she introduces herself as a pianist, violinist, future neurologist, aerobatic pilot, commercial pilot, and flight instructor. She appears to currently be studying neuroscience at UC Berkeley.
Kristina was married to Scott for two years before they announced their separation and filed for divorce. She now has a young son, who was born in 2024.
The 'Dilbert' comic was dropped from many publications in 2023 when Scott made racist remarks.
On an episode of Scott's podcast, titled, "AI Goes Woke, I Accidentally Joined a Hate Group, Policing Schools," he said that white people should "stay the hell away from Black people." He said, "Wherever you have to go, just get away," per Distractify. He also said that white people should segregate themselves because "there is no fixing this."
Scott argued that he has spent a lot of money to help Black Americans, so he "started identifying as Black." He later rolled back the statement, not because he thought it was offensive, but because he didn't want to be a "member of a hate group."