John Schnatter quits as chairman after using racial slur during a conference call on how to handle controversial situations.
Embattled pizza chain Papa John’s on Friday moved to erase the memory of founder John Schnatter — literally.
The chain, with 5,212 locations, said it would remove the 56-year-old executive’s likeness from its logo, promotional materials and other marketing efforts, days after he drew heat for using the N-word during an inter-company conference call.
In addition, Major League Baseball has discontinued its Papa Slam promotion with the Louisville, Ky.-based company, and at least 12 MLB teams — including the Yankees and Mets by Friday— dropped local sponsorships. Also on Friday, the University of Louisville said it would remove Schnatter’s name from its football stadium.
Meanwhile, on Friday afternoon, Schnatter, in an interview on WHAS, a Louisville radio station, said he was pressured to use the N-word during the conference call.
“The agency was promoting that vocabulary … They pushed me. And it upset me,” he told host Terry Meiners.
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