Papa John Apparently Dropped The N Bomb On A Conference Call, Said That Colonel Sanders "Called Blacks N**gers" And Didn't Get Any Backlash

FORBES - John Schnatter—the founder, chairman and public face of pizza chain Papa John’s—used the N-word on a conference call in May, a source with knowledge of the event told Forbes.

The call was arranged between Papa John’s executives and marketing agency Laundry Service. It was designed as a role-playing exercise for Schnatter in an effort to prevent future public-relations snafus. Schnatter caused an uproar in November 2017 when he waded into the debate over national anthem protests in the NFL and partly blamed the league for slowing sales at 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.

Papa John vs. Colonel Sanders, 2018, what a time to be alive.  Has anyone ever had quite the fall from grace in the food industry that Papa has had?  Well I guess Mario Batali.  But Papa John is close.  The NFL disaster, being in the news for all the wrong reasons, now a Forbes report saying he dropped a hard R N bomb on a conference call.  Now, on the racism scale judged by me, a white man, I have this comment as “slightly less racist” than “very racist.”  He’s making a reference to a historical fact, not personally calling black people that.  However the use of the word in general, especially with the hard ending, is a big no no.

Apparently he kept going with some more insight on race relations in America.

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.

When you lose your sponsorship with the NFL (ever heard of it?  Gets some eyeballs),  insert yourself into a hot button anthem issue for absolutely no reason that is obviously going to blow up in your face, cause your company stock to plummet 12%, and mar the reputation of your mediocre pizza saved only by garlic dipping sauce, you’re simply branded an idiot.  Idiot is easier to live with.  Lot of people are idiots.  But when you pick up the “racist” tag?  Hoo boy.  That’s a tough one to shake.  Especially when you bring a beloved American figure like Colonel Sanders into it.

Papa’s reps wouldn’t even deny he said it.

…on Wednesday morning, the company sent a statement that did not dispute any of Forbes’ reporting, but noted that “Papa John’s condemns racism and any insensitive language, no matter the situation or setting. … We take great pride in the diversity of the Papa John’s family, though diversity and inclusion is an area we will continue to strive to do better.”

“We have diversity” is like the new “no offense” for companies.  Talking about diversity is your get out of jail free card for any comments you make.  Yeah I dropped the N word, hard R and everything.  However we sometimes employ black people.  Soooo…