If you’re a fan of pizza, you’re probably familiar with John Schnatter. Schnatter was the very visible founder of Papa John’s pizza, often appearing in commercials to advertise his growing fast food chain. While it seemed as if he’d always be part of the franchise, Schnatter resigned today — and the reason why is incredibly upsetting.
In January, Schnatter stepped down from his role as CEO of Papa John’s, but was still connected to the company. Having started the company back in 1984 with little money and the space of a broom closet (literally — he initially worked out of a tavern owned by his father), he expanded the brand into a full-fledged business.
These days, the staff at Papa John’s will likely want to distance themselves from Schnatter. It was revealed that during a call in May between Papa John’s executives and a marketing agency called Laundry Service, Schnatter used the “n” slur. It was said after he was asked how he planned on distancing himself from racist groups on the internet. Schnatter’s response was “Colonel Sanders called blacks n—–s,” which is not okay.
Schnatter didn’t deny using the word. Instead, he stepped down as chairman and issued an apology, which said “Regardless of the context, I apologize. Simply stated, racism has no place in our society.”
This isn’t the only controversy that Schnatter has found himself in the center of. Back in November of 2017, the former CEO blamed the NFL protests for fallen sales. According to People, the call in May where he used the slur was actually a call meant to help his public image.
While resigning was the right move, it’s a shame that Schnatter didn’t realize at the time how offensive and unnecessary his words were.
