Papa John’s founder says he was ‘set up’ by company board amid racial bias claims
'Director Freeh’s report pretty well exonerated me of anything to deal with racism,' John Schnatter says
Papa John’s founder John Schnatter claimed on “Mornings with Maria” on Thursday that he was "set up" by some of the company's board of directors and Laundry Service executives regarding racism allegations, which led to his ousting in 2018.
During an exclusive interview with FOX Business’ Maria Bartiromo on Thursday Schnatter added that the former FBI Director Louis Freeh’s report into his public comments “completely exonerates” him “of anything to deal with racism.”
“The great thing about Freeh’s report is that it completely exonerates me and it puts into focus that all the problems that the company has caused for the franchisees and for the employees was caused by the board of directors of Papa John’s International, not John Schnatter,” he added.
He made the statements two days after Freeh released the findings of his extensive investigation into the public comments made by Schnatter.
“Director Freeh’s report pretty well exonerated me of anything to deal with racism and I’m very thankful for that and I’m very pleased with that. It’s a beautiful day,” Schnatter told Bartiromo.
According to the report, Freeh found Schnatter's comments were "neither intended nor can reasonably be interpreted to reflect any racial bias, prejudice, or disrespect for African Americans or people of color."
Freeh added that his firm's background investigation of Schnatter, which looked into the personal experiences and reputation he currently has with prominent African Americans and other people of color, "completely validates and corroborates the separate finding that Mr. Schnatter had no prejudicial intent or racial animus when he made the public comments at issue."
Freeh noted that interviewees Reverend Dr. Sam Tolbert, president of the National Baptist Convention of America; Reverend Dr. Kevin Cosby, president of Simmons College, a private historically Black college in Louisville, Ky., noted civil rights leader Reverend Dr. Charles Elliott, Jr., and Simon Smith, former vice president for North American Franchise Operations at Papa John's International, all affirmed that Schnatter "never expressed any racial bias, prejudice, or discrimination," and "always appreciated people regardless of their race or ethnicity."
The investigation reviewed the transcript of the company's third-quarter earnings call on Nov. 1, 2017, in which Schnatter made comments about the NFL players' national anthem protests against police brutality.
As the call was winding down, Schnatter said "what bothers me is Colonel Sanders called Blacks, n-----s. I’m like, I never used that word. And they get away with it. And we use the word “debacle” and we get framed in the same genre."
Freeh claims that the transcript of the call shows that Schnatter did not mean to use the word as a racial slur.
"Simply put, at no time on the phone conference did he call anyone the n-word. At no time on the call did he ever use language that insulted or disparaged any race or ethnicity," Freeh said. "The comments were not made in the context as to be prejudicial, but rather to demonstrate his opposition to racism and frustration with his attitude toward race being so misconstrued during the controversy of his comments on the NFL."
On Thursday, Schnatter explained why he believes he was set up.
“The company obviously wanted me out of the company and as a result, they kind of set me up with all this,” Schnatter told Bartiromo.
Bartiromo asked Schnatter, “Why did the company want you out?”
“I think part of the directors went with the cancel culture. They panicked. They overreacted,” he responded, adding that they “wanted me out of the company for self-interest reasons.”
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He explained that he believes that “the set-up was 'how do we get him to say something or do something and tape it and misconstrue it and paint him as a racist' because… the only way to get rid of Papa John in Papa John’s Pizza is to play the race card and they played it to the hill.”
Papa John’s did not immediately respond to FOX Business’ request for comment regarding Schnatter’s claim that he was “set up” by some of the company’s board of directors.
In a statement Tuesday, Schnatter said that Freeh's report "coincides with what I have said all along – that my comments in May 2018, which clearly reflected my total disdain for racism, were reversed and mischaracterized by the media to damage my reputation and harm the company I founded, built, and love."
He added that it "sets the record straight about the media attacks that delivered tremendous economic harm to the franchisees and employees of Papa John's" and shows that the company's leadership failed to protect him as "the founder and face of the brand."
Schnatter also warned that there is "a lot more of the story to come" in the near future about the company's "motives and ill intent."
Overall, Freeh argued that facts and fairness were "drowned out by the more sensationalized mischaracterization in the mainstream and social media."
Schnatter stressed on Thursday that the “media frenzy ran with a false narrative and it was untruthful.”
Bartiromo asked Schnatter if he is now “going to be investing or buying up a new restaurant” or getting involved in any other new ventures.
“Absolutely, we’re involved with a lot of things,” he responded, without revealing specifics.
“I’ve got a lot of irons in the fire, a lot of great people,” he continued. “I think we’re going to have a great future with some of these endeavors and I’m really excited about it.”
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He went on to say that “adversity strips away the nonessentials and it forces you to go back to the broom closet, your fundamental principles, what you believe in and what you want to stand up for and never give up and that persistence and that tenacity is key to get through something like this and we’re through it.”
“We’re going to move on to bigger and better things and I’m excited about my future,” Schnatter added.
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Fox News’ Lucas Manfredi contributed to this report.