‘Papa John’ Schnatter Now Says He Was ‘Pushed’ Into Using The N-Word
Fallout from this week’s news that Papa John’s founder John Schnatter used the n-word in a May conference call has been extensive. The news broke Wednesday, and before the day was over, Schnatter had resigned as the company’s chairman. He issued a statement through Papa John’s in which he acknowledged his mistake.
“News reports attributing the use of inappropriate and hurtful language to me during a media training session are true. Regardless of the context, I apologize. Simply stated, racism has no place in our society.”
Since then, Fox News reports that the pizza company announced that his image would be removed from all of its materials and marketing, Major League Baseball has put a stop to its Papa Slam promotion, at least a dozen MLB teams have ceased local sponsorships, and the University of Louisville removed the company’s name from its football stadium. ESPN also reported that Schnatter has resigned from the U of L board of trustees. On Friday, he was a guest on a radio show hosted by Terry Meiners on Louisville radio station 840 WHAS and said that he was “pushed” by the agency with whom the conference call was arranged to say the n-word.
“The agency was promoting that vocabulary … They pushed me. And it upset me… It’s caused a lot of grief for my community, for my university. My employees are distraught, they’re crushed, and it’s all because I was sloppy and I wasn’t as sensitive. It’s the same mistake I made on the NFL comments.”
John Schnatter, the founder and public face of Papa John's pizza, has resigned as the company's chairman after it emerged he used the N-word on a conference call in May. https://t.co/01ICNa73zC pic.twitter.com/MQrhCrawpJ
— CNN Breaking News (@cnnbrk) July 12, 2018
The agency Schnatter charges encouraged him to use the n-word is the marketing agency Laundry Service according to Forbes. “The NFL comments” the Papa John’s founder referred to in his statement were made back in November and were about the way the NFL was handling the kneeling protests.
“Leadership starts at the top, and this is an example of poor leadership. The NFL has hurt Papa John’s shareholders… This should have been nipped in the bud a year and a half ago.”
Discussions related to the kneeling protests have been racially charged, and Schnatter was called out by many as racist for his comments. The May conference call included a role-playing exercise Laundry Service had created as part of their effort to help the pizza giant avoid future public relations problems due to similar statements. His response to a question about how he would distance himself from racist internet groups is what led to his latest problems. Schnatter said, “Colonel Sanders called blacks n*****s,” then went on to complain that the KFC founder faced no backlash for his language. (While a biography of Harlan Sanders, “Colonel Sanders and the American Dream,” says that he called African-Americans “Negros,” there is no evidence that he ever used the n-word in referring to them, and the biography states that he never showed any sign of racial prejudice.) Schnatter said that Laundry Service encouraged him to use the n-word in his response.
Papa John’s has taken steps this week to separate the company from John Schnatter in the eyes of the public. Chief Executive Steve Ritchie stated that the 34-year-old company with over 120,000 employees and franchise “team members” is more than just Schnatter. They plan to hire an independent expert to ensure the company’s policies, procedures, and systems, as well as its culture, reflect diversity and inclusion.
