Papa John’s founder and former CEO, John Schattner implies he’s bitter over losing his job for using an anti-black slur during a conference call in 2018 and that he has since struggled with removing the infamous n-word from his everyday vocabulary.
Schattner told a right-wing media propaganda organization that it has taken nearly two years to rid the slur from his consciousness, according to a report by News One. No reports as to whether he was any good at doing so.
Schattner still, however, does not “understand” why people were so angry or why there was a backlash that ensued over his use of the word. Still, he insists to the reporters of One America News (OAN) that he is not a racist.
He blames his board for his ousting and says he lays awake at night wondering how this all happened to him.
“I used to lay in bed thinking, ‘how did they do this?’” Schnatter said, when clearly the fault lay at his own feet. There appears Schattner has done little self-introspection in the last three years since his firing.
Schattner drew first blood during NFL protests of the National Anthem, which were sponsored by Papa John’s. He said they hurt his business. Many saw his actions as a call to white team owners to control their Black players. That was 2017. Then came the use of the n-word on the conference call and his fate was sealed.
Schattner’s problem is that he never took responsibility for his own racism – even trying to blame Kanye West for it, saying that because “he uses the ‘N’ word in his lyrics.” The truth of the matter is that no one twisted Schattner’s arm, no one made him say it and no one is forcing him not to say it. The choices are his alone to make. The question is, will he make the right one?
