Papa John's founder accused of using racial slur in conference call

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John Schnatter—the founder, chairman and public face of pizza chain Papa John’s—used the N-word on a conference call in May, a source with knowledge of the event told Forbes.

The call was arranged between Papa John’s executives and marketing agency Laundry Service. It was designed as a role-playing exercise for Schnatter in an effort to prevent future public-relations snafus. Schnatter caused an uproar in November 2017 when he waded into the debate over national anthem protests in the NFL and partly blamed the league for slowing sales at Papa John’s.

On the May call, Schnatter was asked how he would distance himself from racist groups online. He responded by downplaying the significance of his NFL statement. “Colonel Sanders called blacks n-----s,” Schnatter allegedly said, before complaining that Sanders never faced public backlash.



Schnatter also reflected on his early life in Indiana, where, he said, people used to drag African-Americans from trucks until they died. He apparently intended for the remarks to convey his antipathy to racism, but multiple individuals on the call found them to be offensive, the source said. After learning about the incident, Laundry Service owner Casey Wasserman moved to terminate the company’s contract with Papa John’s.

Reached by phone on Tuesday, July 10, a representative for Papa John’s requested an advance copy of this story. Forbes declined, and the representative said he would withhold comment until after publication. Then, on Wednesday morning, the company sent a statement that did not dispute any of Forbes' reporting, but noted that “Papa John’s condemns racism and any insensitive language, no matter the situation or setting. ... 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.”

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