LOUISVILLE, Ky. (Legal Newsline) – Papa John says he has proof he was set up by a media agency he used to employ when he was in charge of his pizza empire.
John Schnatter said March 30 that evidence unsealed in his lawsuit against Wasserman Media Group shows his use of the N-word was done in quoting another restaurant founder. His Oct. 1 amended complaint includes references to an hour-long tape that shows he is not a racist.
Schnatter resigned from Papa John’s in 2018, 34 years after he founded it, due to public backlash. He apologized for saying “Colonel Sanders calls blacks ‘n*****s.’”
An employee of Laundry Service, a public relations firm owned by Wasserman Media and hired by Papa John’s, recorded the call. The entirety of the call, Schnatter says, shows he was raised to reject racism.
“The American people can hear for themselves that the Landry Service staff were laughing about setting me up to take a fall,” he said.
The recording of the entire call shows, according to Schnatter:
-Schnatter used the word while quoting Colonel Sanders;
-He immediately condemned racism after making the reference;
-His declaration that he never used the word was left out of news reports; and
-A lack of integrity and probable breaches of contractual obligations by Laundry Service.
“The recording makes it clear that Schnatter was kept in the dark about the purpose of the meeting in order to aggravate him as they begin to discuss, unbeknownst to Schnatter, the issue of racism,” Schnatter’s press release says.
“It also suggests that Laundry Service, orchestrated the call with the intent of getting Schnatter to say something damaging. In the last five minutes of the tape, which features Laundry Service employees talking after the conclusion of the conference call with Schnatter, Laundry Service CEO Jason Stein is heard saying he hopes Schnatter ‘gets f--king sent out to pasture on this s--t.’”
Schnatter’s lawsuit is pending in Kentucky federal court.