Why Papa Johns Has Distanced Itself From Its Controversial Founder

If you were to look at the website for Papa Johns, one of the most popular pizza chains in America, you might notice the conspicuous absence of a certain figure on their "about us" page: namely, the eponymous Papa John. Even though the origin story of the chain is detailed — it started life with a single pizza oven installed in a broom closet in an Indiana bar — no mention is made of the person who installed the pizza oven in the first place, lending the curious impression that Papa Johns was founded by a ghost. But that's not the case, of course; it was founded by a man named John Schnatter, who was once the chain's CEO and unofficial mascot before a number of controversies (involving NFL protests, racial slurs, and an ill-advised appearance on television) made him persona non grata.

Papa Johns (which is spelled without an apostrophe for reasons that will shortly become clear) began in 1984 with a single pizza oven installed in a broom closet at Mick's Lounge, an establishment in Jeffersonville, Indiana owned by Schnatter's father. Famously, Schnatter sold his car to buy the necessary equipment, which he later bought back in 2009. From these humble-ish beginnings, an empire grew: today, there are over 5,000 Papa Johns locations in 45 countries. Schnatter, who had become a billionaire, was sitting pretty — even after being ousted as CEO for criticizing the NFL (with whom Papa Johns had a partnership) over players kneeling in protest during the national anthem in 2017, he still owned over 9 million shares of the company, and would still feature in commercials. But his troubles were just beginning.

In 2018, Forbes reported that John Schnatter used a racial slur during a sensitivity training exercise held on a conference call. Referring back to his comments on the NFL protests, Schnatter remarked that Colonel Sanders, founder of KFC, "called African-Americans [the n-word]" without public protest. Sanders' family shot back, denying that he ever used the slur — though there were plenty of shady things about Colonel Sanders, racism wasn't necessarily one of them. Still, even if Schnatter were telling the truth, it was a terrible look for the embattled CEO. He was ousted as the company's chairman and removed from promotional material.

That would have been an ignominious enough fate for Schnatter, but a year later, he made it even worse for himself. In 2019, he was interviewed by WDRB, the local news affiliate for Louisville, and came across terribly. Sweaty, glowering, and paranoid, he railed against the forces who ousted him, especially former CEO Steve Richie, and declared that there would be "a day of reckoning" for the company. His claim that he had eaten "40 pizzas over the past 30 days" was roundly mocked, even after he clarified that he was only tasting them for quality control purposes, and parodies spread across the internet. 

Schnatter has occasionally resurfaced, especially at the Conservative Political Action Conference, but his days as the most famous pizza mascot in the world are well behind him. With that said, however, the Schnatter-less chain isn't doing much better for itself, and it's possible Papa Johns may not be around for much longer.