Papa John’s founder John Schnatter has changed his mind about resigning from the company.
Schnatter believes he made the wrong decision when he resigned on July 11 after being using the n-word during a conference call, according to a letter obtained by CNN Money.
He claimed the company’s board urged him to resign based on hearsay rather than facts.
“The board asked me to step down as chairman without apparently doing any investigation. I agreed, though today I believe it was a mistake to do so,” he wrote. “I have checked with corporate governance experts who tell me that this was not a proper action by the board. At the last meeting, a few of you raised the issue of whether I should step down as a director. Once again, those individuals were acting on rumor and innuendo, without any investigation — let alone a third-party investigation of the facts.”
Schnatter admits he used the n-word, but argues the context in which he used it is what matters. The Laundry Service, a marketing firm, suggested he take a diversity course and hire Kanye West as a spokesperson. Schnatter took the class, but rejected the spokesperson idea because Yeezy uses the word. He also criticized Papa John’s PR tactics.
“I was asked if I was not racist, then why did I say what I did about the NFL situation? I said if you look at what I said, it was in no way racist. (The fact is, we completely mishandled the NFL situation from a public relations standpoint both the board of directors and company leadership.) I then said something on the order of, Colonel Sanders used the word "N," (I actually used the word,) that I would never use that word and Papa John's doesn't use that word.”
If that sounds strange, the story gets even weirder. After going on about how racist he isn’t, Schnatter accused The Laundry Service of extortion. He claims the Papa John’s board gave in.
“The next day, May 23, the company made the decision — not me — to fire the Laundry Service, with their last day being July 2. We owed them approximately $1.3 million. Of course, we said we would pay them what was owed, but they said they wanted $6 million because they claimed some of their people had been offended by what I had said,” he wrote. "Moreover, one of their attorneys said they would conduct a smear campaign against the company and me unless we paid them what he was asking for. Unfortunately, the company gave in to this extortion attempt and offered them $2.5 million or roughly $1.2 million more than they were owed.”
Schnatter ended the letter with a vow to clear his name.
“I am confident that an examination of the facts will bear out what I have written in this letter and show that once again our company has demonstrated that it does not know how to handle a crisis based on misinformation. I will not allow either my good name or the good name of the company I founded and love to be unfairly tainted,” he wrote.
While Papa John was trying to prove how racist he is not, his fans were acting a fool on Twitter. Some people thought the pizza was good enough to defend Schnatter under the hashtag #PapaJohnDidNothingWrong.
It's everything you'd expect from people who see nothing wrong with a man who hated the NFL protests because he thought they affected his pizza sales:
#PapaJohnDidNothingWrong
pic.twitter.com/N3dAoBYECa— ???????????????????????????????? Ethan Berndt ???????????????????????????????? (@EthanJBerndt) July 14, 2018
#PapaJohnDidNothingWrong
pic.twitter.com/arWeBsyzW3— John Nicoson???????? (@Fritzster) July 16, 2018
Real Americans support the first amendment !! #papajohndidnothingwrong
pic.twitter.com/BBLwqWbcJ5— Appalachee Don (@imdoingthisHW) July 15, 2018
Apologizing for condemning racism and the language of racism, using that language contextually, (not as a weapon) is stupid and forcing a resignation is immoral.@Timcast#PapaJohnDidNothingWronghttps://t.co/5CwZMzIyXx
— Michael (@dmgill83) July 15, 2018
People talking trash about the #PapaJohnDidNothingWrong tag shows just how ridiculous political correctness has become. I don't care about the pizza, I've ate it once. The company and sponsorships throwing him under the bus are shameful and pathetic as is anyone offended.
— Joe Clark (@ctdummy80) July 15, 2018
IF YOU'RE GONNA DROP JOHN FROM HIS OWN PIZZA RESTAURANT FRANCHISE IM NOT EATING AT THAT PIZZA ACE ANYMORE AND GOTNG TO EAT AT DOMINO'S UNTILL PAPA GETS HIS FRANCHISE BACK!#PapaJohnDidNothingWrong
#PapaJohns— Brian Hashimoto (@Stuntmaster007) July 14, 2018
Yeah cause the black community can call themselves this 24/7 but if you use it as a reference of what not to use, the media crucifys you. #PapaJohnDidNothingWrong How weird. Personally, Papa John is a pussy, I would of stuck to my guns being he wasn't using it in a negative light
— G (@momomiester) July 14, 2018
Horrible. Context matters. You ruined a man because you bowed to Marxist speech control. #PapaJohnDidNothingWrong
— Deitystrike (@deitystrike) July 14, 2018
Plenty of people saw how absurd the defense of the CEO was and decided to have fun at his defender's expense:
there’s actually a #PapaJohnDidNothingWrong hashtag? y’all, the pizza is not good. are your mouths so preoccupied with using slurs that you can’t taste the shit flavored cardboard you’re eating? whatever, have fun blowing ass into the toilet????
— jaz (@birthdad) July 14, 2018
we support you papa! i will never stop eating my papa johns #PapaJohnDidNothingWrong
pic.twitter.com/gCle0IMgVP— funky kong fan acc (@thisaintitchief) July 16, 2018
John Witherspoon > John Schnatter #PapaJohnDidNothingWrong
#PapaJohns
#PapaJohn
pic.twitter.com/3j7UlVeHKm— Wootay (@JNumba910) July 17, 2018
i love papa john, papa john is the life, may papa john bless papa john#PapaJohnDidNothingWrong
pic.twitter.com/UBRAbQf3Ns— The Original Jerkass™ (@andrewmcnally) July 17, 2018
#PapaJohnDidNothingWrong but take a lot of Ambien. pic.twitter.com/nPHaN1B5E7
— Grandmaster YoDude ✴ (@TheYoDude) July 16, 2018
Here’s what real pizza looks like for the #PapaJohnDidNothingWrong brigade of racists without taste buds. pic.twitter.com/00tgdqr5jN
— Jody Allard (@sendvodka) July 15, 2018
Now, check this out:
Papa John's Founder Resigns Amid Reports He Said ‘N****rs’ During Conference Call
Weeks After Criticizing NFL Protests, Papa John's Founder Will Step Down As CEO
Papa John's Blames Sagging Sales On NFL Protests, CEO 'Disappointed The NFL Did Not Resolve This'