Papa John's founder John Schnatter resigned as company chairman late Wednesday after it was reported that he used the N-word during a conference call in May. The company said in a statement that it will appoint a new chairman in the coming weeks. The news comes the same day Schnatter faced intense backlash for using the racial slur while taking part in an exercise on handling public relations. Forbes first reported on the comments Wednesday, stating that Schnatter used the N-word after being asked how he would distance himself from racist groups. “Colonel Sanders called blacks n-----s,” Schnatter reportedly said on the call, referring to the founder of KFC. Schnatter said Sanders didn’t face backlash for his statements. Schnatter also reportedly said that when he was growing up in Indiana, people would drag black people from trucks until they died. Schnatter had said that the comments were intended to show his opposition to racism, though others on the call reported being offended by the remarks. According to Forbes, Laundry Service, the marketing agency that arranged the call, cut ties with Papa John's after the exercise. The question came in response to blowback Schnatter received for linking NFL players' protests of the national anthem to lower sales for the pizza company. According to Forbes, Schnatter tried to minimize the impact of his statement on the anthem protests. In a statement following Forbes's report, Papa John's did not deny Schnatter's comments. "Papa John's condemns racism and any insensitive language, no matter the situation or setting,” the statement said. “We take great pride in the diversity of the Papa John's family, though diversity and inclusion is an area we will continue to strive to do better." Schnatter on Wednesday issued an apology for the remarks, stating, "News reports attributing the use of inappropriate and hurtful language to me during a media training session regarding race are true." "Regardless of the context, I apologize. Simply stated, racism has no place in our society," Schnatter said in a statement. Schnatter also resigned from his post on the University of Louisville's board of trustees after the comments came to light, the Louisville Courier Journal reported. Schnatter has been the face of Papa John's since stepping down as the company's CEO in December amid backlash from his comments about NFL protests. http://thehill.com/homenews/396620-papa-johns-founder-resigns-as-chairman-of-companys-board
Now that's some sensitivity training. Much better than your standard corporate training BS. When this one was over everyone got a promotion except one guy.
I should know better than to comment on this type of thread, but I’m going to because I feel like I need educated. Saying something happened to colored people where you’re from doesn’t in and of itself seem racist to me. Saying some one called colored people the N word (I do firmly think this is word we should all choose never to use especially if we aren’t black), doesn’t seem racist to me either. Now I can see how in combination with his other comments about NFL protests how one could say there’s a pattern here and this is not a good guy. However I feel like he had to of said more than that and or had a tone that condoned the aforementioned material. Now I don’t want this to come off as making excuses of any thing he did, telling Black people what they can consider racist, or like I condone his actions. I just personally feel like there’s more to this story. I apologize if this offends someone, I know race is a tricky topic and I’m not that eloquent.
Well I did read some more after posting and it seems like it he definitely said a lot of things he shouldn’t have and deserves what he’s getting. It’s not just Papa Johns it sounds like everyone is trying to separate from him.
He's a dipshit. Knew it when he paid some ungodly amount of money for his shitty old Camaro. They've survived selling shitty pizza and they want his dumbass gone. Mission accomplished.
What an ass that guy, if its not one thing its another with him. Though its good he was let go, I doubt their pizza sales get much better.
Papa John's is so terrible it's pretty much the only fast food place I can remember actually going out of business in my town besides maybe Blimpies twenty years ago.
Quiznos: "We're better than Subway because we toast our sandwiches." Subway: "Toasted? If you want your sandwiches toasted I guess we can add toasters to our stores." Quiznos: "Nooooooooooooooooo!"
Please do it Trump. Better yet, Trump should pardon Papa John while dressed as Colonel Sanders. I can see it now. John Schnatter is a good man. A teriffic man. The best. The bestest pizza. The bettest ingridients. Its Papa Johns. Also my new extra crispy chicken is delicious.
