John Schnatter is the founder and former CEO and face of Papa John’s Pizza. He lost his position as the face of his company after more and more stories came out supporting the idea that Papa John’s Pizza has a Trump-supporting racist at its helm. Along with flagging sales, the company moved Schnatter out of the top rung and down somewhere less visible. Unfortunately for Papa John’s, Schnatter is still Schnatter; and narcissists cannot help themselves. Laundry Service—a media agency that had been working with Papa John’s—has reportedly cut ties with the cardboard-tasting giant over comments allegedly made by Schnatter during a May 31 conference call. Bloomberg News says they have seen the email Laundry Service owner Casey Wasserman sent to employees concerning the change in relationship with Papa John’s.
Laundry Service, owned by sports agency owner Casey Wasserman, told staff in a May 31 letter that it would be ending its work with an unnamed client due to “the regrettable recent events that several employees of Laundry Service witnessed during interactions with a client’s executive,” according to a copy of the letter obtained by Bloomberg News. [...]
Following the incident, Laundry Service said it held a call with the client’s chief executive officer to discuss winding down the media agency’s work with the company. “We also instructed the client that during this transition, the executive who made the offensive remarks must not communicate directly with any Laundry Service employee,” according to the letter. “We are proud to share an understanding with you that racism, and other forms of discrimination, will not be tolerated.”
Forbes reports that the Papa John’s founder Schnatter was possibly having something of a pity party about how he had been pegged as a racist after his racist positioning led to the company forcing him to “step down” from his position as CEO. However, stepping down from the company’s most public position of power didn’t mean Schnatter wasn’t still wielding a ton of power as the new Chairman of 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.”
Papa John’s has told Forbes that they do “not dispute” their story but also want it reported that they do not support racism and promote diversity.