International News 12th July, 2018
John Schnatter, the founder and public face of Papa John’s pizza, resigned as the company’s chairman hours after he apologized for using the N-word on a conference call in May.
Schnatter had apologized earlier in the day after Forbes reported that he used the racial slur while participating in a role-playing exercise designed to prevent public relations crises.
According to the account in Forbes, Schnatter was on a call with Laundry Service, a marketing agency, and was asked how he planned to manage future public relations flare-ups.
Schnatter founded Papa John’s in 1984. He is the public face of the company and its largest shareholder, controlling 29%, and appears in its ads, including one that rolled out as recently as April.
Papa John’s (PZZA) said in a statement late Wednesday it would appoint a new chairman “in the coming weeks.”
