Papa John possibly exonerated

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The recording indicates that Stein was already recruiting journalists to implement his plan. "I already spoke to Darren Rovell who said he gets it," Stein is heard saying about the set up.

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in addition to including multiple instances of Schnatter directly condemning racism, the recording makes it clear that his reference to the n-word was made when quoting another restaurant founder, and Schnatter made the reference in the context of what never to say. Furthermore, immediately after making the reference, Schnatter can be heard condemning the use of such language when he said, "I never used the word" — this key part of the recording was left out of news reports and was omitted by Laundry Service in 2018. More importantly, the recording demonstrates a shocking lack of professionalism and integrity by Laundry Service – and how the company likely violated their contractual obligations, causing serious damage to the founder, employees, franchisees, and the company's image – and supports Schnatter's public comments that he was set up.

The recording makes it clear that Schnatter was kept in the dark about the purpose of the meeting in order to aggravate him as they begin to discuss, unbeknownst to Schnatter, the issue of racism. It also suggests that Laundry Service, orchestrated the call with the intent of getting Schnatter to say something damaging. In the last five minutes of the tape, which features Laundry Service employees talking after the conclusion of the conference call with Schnatter, Laundry Service CEO Jason Stein is heard saying he hopes Schnatter "gets f--king sent out to pasture on this s--t."

Stein and other employees then go on to discuss how they intend to set up Schnatter with hostile interviewers who, in Stein's words will "make sure it's an hour-long conversation, so that he says s--t like he said here." Another employee is then heard saying "I want whatever we recorded to be like the actual interview." The recording indicates that Stein was already recruiting journalists to implement his plan. "I already spoke to Darren Rovell who said he gets it," Stein is heard saying about the set up.

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