John Schnatter - otherwise known as the founder and former CEO of the popular pizza chain
Papa John's - has a knack for attracting controversy.
His disastrous fall from his cheesy pizza throne began back in November 2017, when he
slammed NFL commissioner Roger Goodell for his handling of the "take a knee" protests
started by former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick.
The movement, which saw football players kneeling during the national anthem, was in response
to racial injustice in America.
Amazingly, Schnatter decided to blame the controversy on the chain's lagging pizza sales,
stating during a November 2017 conference call:
"The NFL has hurt us.
We are disappointed the NFL and its leadership did not resolve this."
The next month, amid fallout from the comments, Schnatter stepped down as the company's CEO.
Then in July 2018, the pizza king got in hot water when it was revealed he allegedly used
a racial slur during a business call with a branding agency.
And things quickly went from bad to worse: That same month, Forbes published an expose
on instances of alleged sexual harassment in Papa John's offices.
Schnatter resigned as the chain's chairman and was effectively blacklisted from the Papa
John franchise.
He was also removed from its marketing materials.
As for the latest drama?
The Indiana native went viral in November 2019 after claiming he routinely gobbled down
a ridiculous amount of pizza.
And in true Papa John fashion, those comments came back to haunt him.
If you're wondering why the disgraced former owner of a pizza chain is still a hot news
topic, it's probably got something to do with John Schnatter's flair for drama.
Case in point: In November 2019, Schnatter claimed in an interview with Kentucky's WDRB
that he ate 40 pizzas in 30 days in an attempt to prove a point.
He told the interviewer:
"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 went on to add:
"The way they're making the pizza is just not fundamental to what makes a Papa John's
pizza."
Considering the outlandishness of this claim, it's not surprising that Schnatter managed
to raise a lot of eyebrows.
One discerning pizza lover was inspired to tweet:
"I'm trying to figure out how someone could eat 40 pizzas in 30 days.
40 Papa Johns pizzas at that."
Well, here's a bombshell for you: As it turns out, Schnatter did not consume 40 pizzas to
spite his former place of employment.
Speaking to the H3 podcast in February 2020, he clarified his previous remarks:
"Well I didn't say I'd eaten 40 pizzas in 30 days.
I said I had 40 pizzas in 30 days."
He goes on to say:
"When I said I had a pizza, this means I'm inspecting.
I'm not eating every pizza, I may be eating parts of pizzas."
As you probably know, John Schnatter takes his pizza very seriously.
So seriously, in fact, that he made quite the crazy proclamation in regard to Papa John's,
telling WDRB:
"Stay tuned.
The day of reckoning will come.
The record will be straight.
And everything will be cool again."
He didn't have kind words for his former co-workers either, stating that;
"I never dreamed that people that I cared about, that I loved, that I made multimillionaires,
would do what they did.
They fabricated it.
Shame on them."
And when Schnatter isn't promising to exact revenge on all the professional pizzaheads
who have allegedly wronged him, he still seems to spend an awful lot of time chowing down
on cheesy goodness... as is his birthright.
Speaking to the H3 podcast, he admitted to eating about eight or nine slices of pizza
a week.
Meanwhile, he apparently ate between 12 and 15 pieces per week while he was still employed
at the company.
Schattner clearly still loves pizza… but that doesn't mean he's expecting to return
to Papa John's.
Upon telling WDRB that he sold most of his stock in the company, he said:
"My metaphor is: There's no reason to be in the car when the car crashes even if you love
the car."
That's quite a lot to wrap one's head around, but we think we know what he means.
And to throw some other imagery in there: When it rains it pours, at least for John
Schnatter.
Case in point: One month after Papa John made his wild claims about his pizza diet, it was
revealed that his wife of 32 years had filed for divorce.
According to The Louisville Courier -Journal, the date of separation was listed as April
1st, 2019, and it was reported that they'd already determined their division of assets
by that point.
According to the newspaper,
"[These assets reportedly include a] $11 million, 18,000-square-foot mansion, a $6 million condo,
and a $23 million condo."
Custody wasn't an issue in the split because their children are already adults.
Although Schnatter's love life may have taken a hit in 2019, at least he's still rolling
in the dough.
The fallen pizza emperor is reportedly worth a cool $500 million, according to Celebrity
Net Worth… for whatever that may be worth.
The bottom line here?
Schnatter might be rich, but he's still lost to the sauce when it comes to his knack for
causing scandals.
And you can quote us on that.
"Better ingredients.
Better pizza.
Papa John's."
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