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John Schnatter founded Papa John's Pizza in a broom closet in his father's tavern in 1984. The restaurant is now the fourth largest pizza delivery chain in the United States with more than 5,300 corporate and franchisee owned establishments worldwide. 97 Papa John's revenues exceeded $1.5 billion in 2018 but were down for the first time in almost ten years. 98 The company is also down a spokesperson. Schnatter, bet- ter known as "Papa John," was ousted by the organiza- tion after a series of controversial statements.99 Let's take a closer look at the issues facing Papa John's and its founder, sales of his pizza because it is advertised heavily during games. To make matters worse, a white suprem- acist group embraced the remarks and dubbed Papa John's as the official pizza of the alt-right. Papa John's condemned the group and distanced itself from the endorsement, but the damage was already done and the company had to apologize for Schnatter's "divisive" remarks.102 The NFL also broke ties with the company, according to the New York Times. 103 Schnatter was forced to resign as the company's CEO after making the controversial comments about the NFL, but that did not stop him from continuing to cause public outrage with his statements. In May 2018 Schnatter, who was still serving as Papa John's chairman at the time, used the n-word on a confer- ence call with executives and a marketing agency when referring to African Americans. The marketing agency terminated its contract with Papa John's and Schnatter was forced to resign as the company's chairman. 104 PROBLEMATIC STATEMENTS Schnatter told college students in 2013 that he "has a real problem with the English language" while dis- cussing his poor score on the verbal portion of the SAT. Those who know him seem to agree with that sentiment, but don't believe grammar is the under- lying problem. For example, Steve Coomes, a restaurant industry journalist who has interviewed Schnatter a dozen times, wrote a blog post in 2018 titled "A tale of a man who couldn't tame his tongue" in which he profiled a CEO he claims "has always said too much."100 One of Schnatter's first controversial statements was in 2012 when he discussed the passage of Presi- dent Obama's Affordable Care Act. What caught the public's attention was not his political opposition to the law, but the fact that he complained to shareholders that it would increase the cost of a large pizza by 14 cents. Papa John's social media was soon inun- dated with outraged customers claiming they would pay a couple extra cents so Papa John's employees had health insurance. Others said they would take their business to a restaurant that has empathy and " .. doesn't begrudge their employees the ability to seek a doctor when they're ill."101 Schnatter found a new target in 2017, the National Football League (NFL). Papa John's was a significant sponsor of the league at the time that many players were kneeling during the national anthem to raise awareness of police brutality and social injustice. Again, Schnatter caused controversy because he could not keep his emotions and impulses under con- trol. According to the Washington Post he said that the NFL's "poor leadership" and inability to stop the pro- tests hurt the league's TV ratings, which in turn hurt PAPA JOHN BATTLES PAPA JOHN'S Schnatter's comments gravely injured the restaurant chain he founded. Sales at North American stores fell more than 7% in 2018 and the organization's stock lost a third of its value. 105 Papa John's tried to distance itself from Schnatter to stop the bleeding. The board of directors evicted Schnatter from the company's Louisville, Kentucky, headquarters, took him off pizza boxes and commercial materials, and directed him to cease all communications with internal and external stakeholders. 106 Papa John would not go quietly though. He hurled multiple lawsuits at his former company and took out a full-page newspaper ad directing Papa John's 120,000 employees to a website he set up. The website includes press releases, news articles, and public fil- ings in support of Schnatter. 107 Papa John's and Schnatter reached an agreement in 2019 to resolve many of their points of contention. As a result of the agreement, Schnatter will resign from the Papa John's board of directors and cease litigation against his former company. However, the matter is far from closed. Schnatter's spokesperson says he still "retains his ability to assert new legal claims" in the future related to his ouster.108 Moreover, the founder is still the company's largest individual shareholder, own- ing a 19% stake. 109 John Schnatter founded Papa John's Pizza in a broom closet in his father's tavern in 1984. The restaurant is now the fourth largest pizza delivery chain in the United States with more than 5,300 corporate and franchisee owned establishments worldwide. 97 Papa John's revenues exceeded $1.5 billion in 2018 but were down for the first time in almost ten years. 98 The company is also down a spokesperson. Schnatter, bet- ter known as "Papa John," was ousted by the organiza- tion after a series of controversial statements.99 Let's take a closer look at the issues facing Papa John's and its founder, sales of his pizza because it is advertised heavily during games. To make matters worse, a white suprem- acist group embraced the remarks and dubbed Papa John's as the official pizza of the alt-right. Papa John's condemned the group and distanced itself from the endorsement, but the damage was already done and the company had to apologize for Schnatter's "divisive" remarks.102 The NFL also broke ties with the company, according to the New York Times. 103 Schnatter was forced to resign as the company's CEO after making the controversial comments about the NFL, but that did not stop him from continuing to cause public outrage with his statements. In May 2018 Schnatter, who was still serving as Papa John's chairman at the time, used the n-word on a confer- ence call with executives and a marketing agency when referring to African Americans. The marketing agency terminated its contract with Papa John's and Schnatter was forced to resign as the company's chairman. 104 PROBLEMATIC STATEMENTS Schnatter told college students in 2013 that he "has a real problem with the English language" while dis- cussing his poor score on the verbal portion of the SAT. Those who know him seem to agree with that sentiment, but don't believe grammar is the under- lying problem. For example, Steve Coomes, a restaurant industry journalist who has interviewed Schnatter a dozen times, wrote a blog post in 2018 titled "A tale of a man who couldn't tame his tongue" in which he profiled a CEO he claims "has always said too much."100 One of Schnatter's first controversial statements was in 2012 when he discussed the passage of Presi- dent Obama's Affordable Care Act. What caught the public's attention was not his political opposition to the law, but the fact that he complained to shareholders that it would increase the cost of a large pizza by 14 cents. Papa John's social media was soon inun- dated with outraged customers claiming they would pay a couple extra cents so Papa John's employees had health insurance. Others said they would take their business to a restaurant that has empathy and " .. doesn't begrudge their employees the ability to seek a doctor when they're ill."101 Schnatter found a new target in 2017, the National Football League (NFL). Papa John's was a significant sponsor of the league at the time that many players were kneeling during the national anthem to raise awareness of police brutality and social injustice. Again, Schnatter caused controversy because he could not keep his emotions and impulses under con- trol. According to the Washington Post he said that the NFL's "poor leadership" and inability to stop the pro- tests hurt the league's TV ratings, which in turn hurt PAPA JOHN BATTLES PAPA JOHN'S Schnatter's comments gravely injured the restaurant chain he founded. Sales at North American stores fell more than 7% in 2018 and the organization's stock lost a third of its value. 105 Papa John's tried to distance itself from Schnatter to stop the bleeding. The board of directors evicted Schnatter from the company's Louisville, Kentucky, headquarters, took him off pizza boxes and commercial materials, and directed him to cease all communications with internal and external stakeholders. 106 Papa John would not go quietly though. He hurled multiple lawsuits at his former company and took out a full-page newspaper ad directing Papa John's 120,000 employees to a website he set up. The website includes press releases, news articles, and public fil- ings in support of Schnatter. 107 Papa John's and Schnatter reached an agreement in 2019 to resolve many of their points of contention. As a result of the agreement, Schnatter will resign from the Papa John's board of directors and cease litigation against his former company. However, the matter is far from closed. Schnatter's spokesperson says he still "retains his ability to assert new legal claims" in the future related to his ouster.108 Moreover, the founder is still the company's largest individual shareholder, own- ing a 19% stake. 109