'That's racist': Papa John Schnatter says company used Shaq as a 'shield' to 'cover up what they did to a white guy'

'That's racist': Papa John Schnatter says company used Shaq as a 'shield' to 'cover up what they did to a white guy'



Papa John's pizza founder John Schnatter said using Shaquille O'Neal to replace him as the national face of the brand was a racist thing for the company to do.

Schnatter left the company in 2018 months after stepping down as CEO when tapes of private conversations with a public relations company surfaced. The audio clip included him saying the N-word but not in a disparaging manner.

The 62-year-old was heard saying that Kentucky Fried Chicken icon Colonel Sanders "called blacks n******," before saying that he never faced public backlash over his alleged position. Schnatter later released the full transcript, which read as follows:

"Up in New York we made a decision. We're going to go out and get killed again, then I don't have to worry about doing the ads. And I got to tell you, heaven forbid this company if they're not going to use me at all. After I've looked at this research, I mean, I'm just not seeing how you're not going to tell the Papa John story and let them — what bothers me is Colonel Sanders called Blacks n******. I'm like, I've never used that word. And they get away with it. Yet we use the word debacle and we get framed in the same genre. It's crazy. The whole thing's crazy."

The former CEO issued an apology but alluded that the quote was out of context.

"News reports attributing the use of inappropriate and hurtful language to me during a media training session regarding race are true," he said. "Regardless of the context, I apologize. Simply stated, racism has no place in our society," Schnatter added, according to Forbes.

During an interview on "Fearless" with host Jason Whitlock, the entrepreneur remarked that the company's decision to replace him with O'Neal, the retired NBA champion seen in countless branding campaigns, was a racist move.

"Of all the things, that was the most racist. They used a black guy to cover up what they did to a white guy. That's racist. They did it right in front of America. He was just a shield to cover up their infidelity and what they did to me," he explained.

"No good news is going to come out of that company for the next 12 months."

"Of all the things that was the most racist. They used a black guy to cover up what they did to a white guy. That's racist... He was just a shield to cover up what they did to me." Papa John Schnatter on Shaquille O'Neal replacing him as the face of Papa Jon Pizza.
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Schnatter went on to say that audiences shouldn't feel sorry for him.

"I'm a hard guy to feel sorry for, so you got to just get over that, and I got to get over that real quick," he remarked.

"When this started out and I heard about this, I thought this is crazy. This is kind of funny. You're going to paint me as a racist. There's no way, there's no history of it, there's no examples of it, no way."

Representatives for O'Neal did not respond to request for comment.

Host Whitlock suggested that the Papa John's team should bite the bullet and reach out to Schnatter and repair the image of the franchise.

Schnatter said in a different portion of the interview that the company's stock value had dropped an estimated 30% in 2024. Shares in Papa John's have dropped about $20 from February to May 2024.

He explained that it would be wise for the company to "have the founder back," knowing that he is pro-Papa John's, pro-people, and pro-humanity. Schnatter admitted, however, that he did have a "bit of a bad taste" in his mouth from the whole ordeal but doesn't hold any animosity.

"It was a pretty dirty thing to do, [but] I think that would be really good for the brand and the franchisees."

"I'm not going to hold my breath," he continued. The Indiana native explained that he wasn't sure if the company had enough integrity to call on him despite the fact that "no good news is going to come out of that company for the next 12 months."

Schnatter added that it would be no easy task to get Papa John's back on track quickly, with its 6,000 stories in 50 countries and 100,000 employees.

"It's fixable, but you really got to know what you're doing, and you got to make quick decisions."

The former chairman also noted that the margins on food service would need to go "down to zero," which wouldn't meet the company's "Wall Street number."

He likened anything less to simply "rearranging chairs on the Titanic."

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'They lied. I fired Goodell': Papa John Schnatter says he ended ties with the NFL, contradicting reports of a mutual split

'They lied. I fired Goodell': Papa John Schnatter says he ended ties with the NFL, contradicting reports of a mutual split



John Schnatter, founder of the world famous Papa John's pizza chain, said that he ended ties with the NFL, despite the media narrative being that the two entities had a mutual ending to their major partnership.

Papa John's and the NFL were partners since 2010; in late 2017, Schnatter voiced his opinion that the NFL's lack of action over players kneeling during the national anthem had hurt the brand.

"The NFL has hurt us," Schnatter said at the time. "We are disappointed the NFL and its leadership did not resolve this."

"Leadership starts at the top, and this is an example of poor leadership," he added.

The pizza chain pulled ads and removed the NFL shield from its pizza boxes, ESPN reported. However, in early 2018, it was announced that the two entities had come to a "mutual decision" about ending their sponsorship deals.

Schnatter says that wasn't actually the case.

"A man that gets himself in trouble but has principles, will get himself out of trouble pretty quickly. A man that's having success but doesn't have principles, values, once he gets himself in trouble there's no ... I don't see a lot of integrity, dignity, mutual respect out of the NFL," he said on "Fearless."

"That whole model, sooner or later, will fall apart. But it sure doesn't look like from a financial perspective that's going to be anytime soon. I got away from the NFL, they lied."

"I fired Goodell, I got rid of them," Schnatter said of the NFL commissioner.

"That's on the record, but the media spins that. The NFL was playing dirty. Roger Goodell is a dirty guy. He's a coward. I don't want to be associated with it. I don't care how powerful they are, I don't want to be in business with the NFL. That was my call not their call," Schnatter claimed.

"I fired Goodell. I got rid of them. That's on the record. The NFL was playing dirty. Roger Goodell is a dirty guy. He's a coward. I don't want to be associated with it. I don't care how powerful they are, I don't want to be in business with the NFL." -- Papa John Schnatter
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The NFL has not responded to questions about Schnatter's claims, nor has the company released any press statements about the issue.

"The NFL, Goodell especially, did not handle the situation right. The controversy was hurting our sales and hurting the small business owners, our franchisees," Schnatter explained, noting that he didn't give a position on the kneeling specifically.

Schnatter added that the mishandling of the situation by his senior management, board of directors, and "malpractice" by a public relations team were the first signs of trouble.

"I was very adamant that this is going to happen again, I'm going to get attacked again, and if we don't have that PR front covered, then the company and me are going to take a pretty good loss, a pretty good hit, and that fell on deaf ears," he said.

The former Papa John's CEO said the writing was on the wall for the company, which has dropped an estimated 30% in stock value in 2024, Schnatter said.

"I've been telling you for seven years [about] their behavior, lack of ethics, lack of principles, lack of loving people, lack of mutual respect, lack of win-win, lack of quality, lack of service, lack of cleanliness," he told host Jason Whitlock.

"Sooner or later, if you don't tend to the shop and run business with integrity and good customer experience, it's going to catch up. A day before I come on your show, it finally has crashed, I mean, they've been rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic now for six years, and the Titanic is finally sinking."

Shares in Papa John's have dropped about $20 from February to May 2024.

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