John Schnatter Will No Longer Be The Face Of Papa John's

John Schnatter, the founder of the pizza chain Papa John’s, will no longer be the chairman of the board — or the face of the company. The Associated Press reports the company has started to remove his image from their marketing after he admitted to using the n-word during a media training conference call.

Though the company still plans to keep the name Papa John’s, its CEO, Steve Ritchie, said in a statement the company never centered around Schnatter. “Papa John’s is not an individual. Papa John’s is a pizza company with 120,000 corporate and franchise team members around the world,” he wrote in an open letter. But Schnatter has frequently appeared in company commercials, and his face appears on advertisements and even pizza boxes.

Papa John’s is reportedly hiring an outside expert to work on diversity and inclusion at the company and will hold “listening sessions” with employees. And CNNMoney reports a special committee of board of directors decided to kick Schnatter out of their Louisville, Kentucky offices.

Schnatter opened up about his use of a racial slur in an interview with Louisville radio station WHAS on Friday. “I can’t talk like that even if it’s confidential and it’s behind closed doors,” he said. “I did it. And I own it. And I’m sorry. And I’m sick about it, frankly.” He has since stepped down from the University of Louisville’s Board of Trustees after the area NAACP branch called for him to be removed, the Washington Post reports.

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