This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated. ST. LOUIS, Mo. – Papa John’s is changing its name, and the company’s founder is chiming in about the decision. John Schnatter was known as “Papa John” after starting the chain in 1984. The company is now distancing itself from the former CEO and dropping the apostrophe in its name, KTVI reports. Schnatter responded to the renaming in a statement Tuesday evening, saying, “Try as they may, they can’t have Papa Johns without Papa John.” The pizza chain, which formerly used the possessive name “Papa John’s” for its branding and marketing, will now be known as “Papa Johns” for all customer-facing purposes and written references going forward. “Considering the enduring association of Papa John with the brand, the company’s change to the brand logo today is misplaced,” Schnatter said. “Instead of being obsessed with Papa John and irrelevant changes to the brand logo, the company should become obsessed once again with making quality Papa John’s pizza consistently.” He acknowledged the evolution of brands over time, and said “it’s gratifying” to see that many of the company’s long-time concepts remain, including “high quality ingredients, customer service, logo colors, slogans, and more.” However, he maintained that management has painted him in a falsely negative light. “My criticism of company management over the past three years has rested largely on their refusal to admit they were wrong about the false media narrative about me and my legacy, and their failure to maintain a commitment to the principles on which we built the company brand, including consistent product quality with every single pizza made,” Schnatter stated. Schnatter stepped down as CEO in 2018 after criticizing the NFL — which had been sponsored by Papa John’s — for its handling of the national anthem kneeling protests. He later resigned as chairman of the board following controversy over a training exercise he participated in, during which he used the n-word. Papa Johns revealed plans for its new identity in a press release issued Tuesday, but it did not specifically address the name change or the reasoning behind it. A representative for Papa Johns would only say that removing the apostrophe was “not abnormal” for a longtime brand. Copyright 2022 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated. ST. LOUIS, Mo. – Papa John’s is changing the name of the company and the founder is chiming in about the decision. John Schnatter was known as “Papa John” after starting the chain in 1984. The company is now distancing itself from the former CEO and dropping the apostrophe. The pizza chain, which formerly used the possessive form of “Papa John’s” for its branding and marketing, will now be known as “Papa Johns” for all customer-facing purposes and written references going forward. Schnatter criticized the NFL for its handling of the national anthem kneeling protests. He later resigned as chairman of the board following controversy over a training exercise he participated in, during which he used the n-word. This is a statement that Schnatter released on Tuesday evening:
Papa Johns revealed plans for its new identity in a press release issued Tuesday, but did not specifically address the name change or the reasoning behind it. A representative for Papa Johns would only say that removing the apostrophe was “not abnormal” for a longtime brand. Copyright 2022 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. In June, basketball legend Shaquille O'Neal announced he was joining Papa John's board of directors and investing in nine Atlanta-based locations. The move came just over a year after the company's founder, John Schnatter, resigned as chairman for using a racial slur during a conference call. O'Neal has also replaced Schnatter in the brand's ads. "We came in when [Schnatter] made the big mistake," O'Neal tells CNBC Make It on Monday night at Sports Illustrated's Sportsperson of the Year award event in New York City. Ever since, Schnatter — who started the pizza brand in a broom closet in his father's tavern in 1984 and helped it grow to nearly 3,000 restaurants in 49 states and 20 international markets — has been making headlines for controversial statements regarding the company. In October, Schnatter told FOX Business that no one on the board knows anything about pizza, and franchises are under "a lot of duress" because the unit economics are not healthy. (After Schnatter's departure, Papa John's International stock has surged nearly 50% so far this year, and Schnatter is still the largest individual shareholder.) What's more, in November, Schnatter told Fox affiliate WDRB in Louisville, Kentucky, that he believes the company's new management has changed his famous pizza recipe. "I've had over 40 pizzas in the last 30 days, and it's not the same pizza, it's not the same product," Schnatter told WDRB. Both O'Neal and Papa John's CEO Rob Lynch deny the recipe has changed. "Never. There is no change," O'Neal says. "Sometimes people don't know when to keep their mouths shut," he added in response to Schnatter's series of accusations. "I'm not going to go back and forth with this guy. It doesn't matter what he has said about me. I don't care. I'm on a mission to make [Papa John's] the No. 1 brand." According to O'Neal, his fellow board members are also unfazed by Schnatter's comments to the media. "We don't worry about him. He has bigger problems" he needs to handle, says O'Neal. On Thursday, Dec. 7, Schnatter filed a lawsuit against an advertising firm alleging it leaked an unauthorized recording of the infamous conference call that lead to his ousting. On the same day, his wife of 32 years filed for divorce, calling the couple's marriage "irretrievably broken." In a statement to CNBC Make It on Tuesday, Dec. 10, Schnatter says while he has nothing but nice things to say about Shaq, the company's current leadership "is just not leveraging his value to the benefit of the franchisees" and a majority are losing money as a result. "Under my leadership, I always put the quality of the pizzas, the loyalty to customers, and my affection for the employees first at Papa John's. It's all too obvious now, though, that the company is ignoring the success of the past and placing the stock price ahead of both the people and the products." In June, O'Neal said in a statement that he's "thrilled" to be involved with Papa John's as he has been eating the pizza since his early days playing basketball at Louisiana State University. Like this story? Like CNBC Make It on Facebook. Don't miss: Shaquille O'Neal says he wants to buy Reebok Top execs use this visualization trick to achieve success—here's why it works, according to a neuroscientist This is Tom Brady's actual resume from 2000—before he knew he'd make it in the NFL John Hampton "Papa John" Schnatter (born November 22 or 23, 1961),[1][3] is an American entrepreneur who founded the Papa John's pizza restaurant chain in 1984.[4] Schnatter started the business in the back of his father's tavern after selling his car and using the proceeds to purchase used restaurant equipment. As of 2017, his net worth was more than $1 billion.[5] John Schnatter Schnatter at Charlotte Motor Speedway in 2013 John Hampton Schnatter Jeffersonville, Indiana, U.S. Annette Cox Schnatter stepped down as CEO on January 1, 2018, after controversy around his comments that the National Football League (NFL), who had a business affiliation with Papa John's, had not done enough to stop national anthem protests by NFL players, and that the protests had hurt his business.[6][7] Before he stepped down, his comments had resulted in the NFL cancelling its association with Papa John's. After stepping down as CEO, Schnatter remained chairman of the board of directors until July 2018, when it was revealed that, during an internal sensitivity-training May 2018 conference call, he claimed without evidence that Colonel Sanders had used the word "nigger" without backlash.[8][9] Schnatter resigned when the comment became public, but has since maintained that the board conspired against him and unfairly forced him out of his position.[10][11] Schnatter was born in Jeffersonville, Indiana, in 1961,[12][1] to Mary and Robert Schnatter. His mother was a real estate agent and his father was a judge in Jeffersonville.[13] He has German ancestry.[14] He graduated from Jeffersonville High School in 1980 and received a business degree from Ball State University in 1983.[2][1] In the 1980s, Robert Schnatter co-owned Mick's Lounge, a Jeffersonville tavern.[2] Schnatter founded Papa John's Pizza in 1984, when he converted a broom closet in the back of his father's tavern.[1] Schnatter sold his 1971 Z28 Camaro to purchase $1,600 worth of used pizza equipment and began selling pizzas to the tavern's customers.[15][16][17] His pizzas proved sufficiently popular that a year later he moved into an adjoining space. The company went public in 1993. A year later it had 500 stores, and by 1997 it had opened 1,500 stores.[18] In 2009, Schnatter reacquired the Camaro after offering a reward of $250,000 for it.[19] Schnatter moved his company to Louisville, Kentucky, in the late 1990s.[20] In early 2005, Schnatter stepped down as president and CEO of Papa John's, but remained chairman of the board.[21] He returned as CEO in 2008 and briefly had a co-CEO in 2010.[22] Controversy and ousting from Papa John's PizzaIn October 2017, in a conference call with investors, Schnatter blamed the National Football League for poor financial performance, saying, "The NFL has hurt us ... We are disappointed the NFL and its leadership did not resolve this", referring to the U.S. national anthem protests by football players. Papa John's Pizza had a marketing agreement to be the NFL's "official pizza company" and also had marketing deals with 23 of its 32 teams, and Schnatter said the protests were hurting the company's sales. Later that day, Papa John's announced that the NFL shield or "official sponsor" designation on Papa John's commercials and advertising would be removed.[23] On December 21, 2017, Schnatter announced that he would step down as CEO of Papa John's amid controversy over his comments.[24] He was replaced as Chief Executive Officer by Chief Operating Officer Steve Richie, effective January 1, 2018. The company said Schnatter would still appear in the chain's commercials and on its pizza boxes, and was the company's biggest shareholder with approximately 9.5 million shares. He remained chairman of the company's board of directors at the time. In July 2018, Schnatter participated in an internal training conference call with marketing consultants in which there was a role-playing exercise to help Schnatter avoid making remarks that could cause public controversy and damage the company's reputation. During the conference call, Schnatter said, "Colonel Sanders called blacks niggers and Sanders never faced public outcry". Schnatter also said that people in his home state of Indiana used to drag African Americans from trucks until they died. After the call, the owner of the marketing agency moved to end its contract with Papa John's.[25][26] Schnatter resigned as chairman of the board the same day the incident was reported.[8] Later that day, he also stepped down from the University of Louisville board of trustees.[27] On July 26, 2018, Schnatter filed a lawsuit in Delaware against Papa John's Pizza to give him access to the company's books and records; the company did not allow him to access its business records after he resigned in the wake of the teleconference call scandal. He described the company's procedures as an "unexplained and heavy-handed way" to cut ties between him and the company. In addition to preventing him from accessing information, the corporation also implemented a "poison pill" strategy to limit Schnatter's chances of buying back a majority stake in the company.[28] Schnatter also filed a lawsuit against the company in Kentucky in a dispute over property ownership.[29] In January 2019, a judge ordered the company to give Schnatter access to its records relating to his ouster.[29] A settlement of the lawsuits was announced on March 5, 2019.[29] Under the agreement, the company agreed to share all of its records with Schnatter and to remove a part of its "poison pill" plan that restricted his communication with other shareholders, and Schnatter agreed that he would not seek to stay on the company's board of directors after his term expired on April 30, 2019, and that if a mutually agreeable independent director was chosen to replace him, he would step down before the end of his term.[29][30] Schnatter retained the right to sue if the records show wrongdoing by the company.[30] The company also agreed to remove a requirement that the activist hedge fund Starboard Value, which owns about 10% of the company, must vote in favor of the incumbent board.[30] As of March 2019, Schnatter remained the owner of 31% of the company's shares,[29] but by May 23, he had sold 3.8 million shares and reduced his stake in the company to 19%.[31] By November 2019, his stake was under 17%.[32] In June 2019, the company was the fourth-largest take-out and pizza delivery restaurant chain in the world,[33][34][35] with headquarters in Jeffersontown, Kentucky, part of the Louisville metropolitan area.[36][37][38] In November 2019, Schnatter made his first public comments after leaving Papa John's to Louisville Fox affiliate WDRB. In the interview, he admitted he had used the word "nigger" during an internal conference call on diversity training, but said he did so to convey his hatred of racism and was quoting someone else. Schnatter said, "I've had over 40 pizzas in the last 30 days, and it's not the same pizza. It's not the same product. It just doesn't taste as good." He warned that "the day of reckoning will come".[39] The interview subsequently went viral, with numerous parodies appearing online.[40] In an interview three months later, Schnatter said he had not actually eaten over 40 pizzas in 30 days. Instead, he had tasted over 40 pizzas during that time, as a quality inspection activity.[41] Schnatter also criticized the way the company had been run immediately after his departure by Steve Ritchie, who was described as his former protégé. Ritchie had replaced him as CEO, but had been dismissed after less than a year, and Schnatter said he saw more common ground with Jeff Smith, who became chairman of the board in February 2019. "The one thing he and I agree on is that Steve Ritchie is not a CEO," Schnatter said.[39] Other venturesIn 1996, Schnatter started a Louisville-based real estate company called Evergreen Real Estate.[42][43] The company owns a number of historic properties in Schnatter's home community of Anchorage, Kentucky.[44] Schnatter launched a business called Calistoga Artisan Sandwiches in 2007. In 2008, he made a million-dollar contribution to the Louisville Zoo's Glacier Run expansion in exchange for Calistoga having naming rights to an adjacent water park.[45][46] The Calistoga business was mostly shut down in 2012, although three locations continued to operate in Naples, Florida.[45] In response to the unhealthiness of processed foods and the rise of commercial farms, Schnatter announced the creation of Papa Farms at the Conservative Political Action Conference in 2022. The farm plans to grow crops without GMOs, pesticides and fertilizer.[47] In 1983, Schnatter sold his 1971 Chevrolet Camaro to help his father's struggling business. He used the leftover funds to start Papa John's. Decades later, he offered a reward of $250,000 for the car, and on August 26, 2009, he bought it back for $250,000. The family he sold it to had sold it, but he still paid them a $25,000 finders' fee.[48][49] In celebration, Papa John's offered a free pizza to anyone who owned a Camaro.[50] Schnatter's original Camaro has been on display in the company's headquarters in Louisville. The company owns several replicas that are used on tours and for public and TV appearances.[51][unreliable source?] On August 15, 2015, Schnatter's original Camaro was stolen along with two other classic cars in Detroit, where they were slated to appear in the city's annual Woodward Dream Cruise.[52] The Camaro was recovered two days later on the city's west side with minimal damage.[53] Schnatter married Annette Cox in 1987. The couple lived in Anchorage, Kentucky, and had three children.[1] Cox filed for divorce on December 5, 2019, and said they had been separated for eight months.[54] In 1999, Schnatter was accused of stalking and groping a woman. He claimed the woman was trying to extort him for $5 million. The situation ended with a confidential settlement.[55] In 2009, Schnatter was accused of sexual misconduct involving a 24-year-old female marketing employee, resulting in a confidential settlement.[55][56] PoliticsIn 2012, Papa John's and Schnatter received media attention after he made critical comments about the Affordable Care Act to a class on entrepreneurship.[57] In a shareholder conference call, Schnatter said that he opposed the ACA because "our best estimate is that the Obamacare will cost 11 to 14 cents per pizza".[58] Schnatter hosted a fundraiser at his home for Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney in May 2012.[59] Schnatter also contributed to Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign[60] and made supportive comments about his administration in January 2017.[14] Schnatter spoke at the Conservative Political Action Conference in 2022, attacking cancel culture and President Joe Biden's small business policies.[61] He also pushed a conspiracy theory that Biden created the 2021–2022 Russo-Ukrainian crisis to serve as "a great distraction from all the real issues here that affect Americans."[62] Charitable contributionsIn December 2015, Schnatter's charitable foundation donated $8 million to the University of Kentucky's Gatton College of Business and Economics to establish a research and teaching institute.[63] On September 4, 2019, Schnatter's foundation donated $1 million to Simmons College, a historically black college in Kentucky.[64] Simmons College President Kevin Cosby expressed the opinion in a press conference that Schnatter's actions should speak louder than his words, saying "The Black community has heard far too many false words, but today this action—his generosity specifically for Black education and uplift—speaks louder."[65] There was some criticism of the donation offer. Gerome Sutton, a Simmons graduate and member of its board of trustees, said, "It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what's going on. [Schnatter] is trying to pay off the black community with 30 pieces of silver."[66] In October 2019, the foundation also donated $500,000 to Jeffersonville High School, for renovation of its baseball field, where he had played on the team while a student there. The baseball field was renamed the John H. Schnatter Stadium.[67]
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