A transcript of a phone call from a lawsuit filed by Papa John’s founder John Schnatter alleged that the public relations firm, Laundry Service, that was hired to fix Schnatter’s image, tried to set him up for failure after disputes.
“In June 2018, Casey Wasserman, the CEO of Laundry Service’s parent company told Papa John’s then-CEO Steve Ritchie that he would ‘bury the founder’ (i.e., Mr. Schnatter) if Laundry Service was not paid $6 million dollars,” a copy of the lawsuit between Schnatter, Laundry Service and Wasserman Media Group reads.
In the transcript of the phone call held on May 22, 2018 between Schnatter, the public relations firm Laundry Service and their parent company, Wasserman Media Group LLC, several employees of the company allegedly muted their microphones, recorded and criticized several of Schnatter’s answers to their questions, The Daily Wire reported.
“What bothers me is Colonel Sanders called blacks n******. I’m like, I’ve never used that word. And they get away with it,” Schnatter said, according to the transcript.
Schnatter ended up resigning from his role with Papa John’s in July 2018, stating that “regardless of the context, I apologize. Simply stated, racism has no place in our society.”
“I hope he gets fuckin’ sent out to the pasture on this shit. I really, really fuckin’ do,” the founder of the public relations firm allegedly said as the recording continued at the end of the call. (RELATED: ‘The Day of Reckoning Will Come’: Papa John’s Founder Promises Armageddon For Pizza Joint)
‘Papa John’ Says PR Company Planted Racism Allegations After He Would Not Pay $6M https://t.co/4rv7w7BYiv pic.twitter.com/njmggpcUYV
— The Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) March 30, 2021
“That’s a fucking super right wing, like crazy,” one employee allegedly said.
“It’s a major relief to finally have more facts that reveal the truth of what really happened,” Schnatter said about the release of the full recording, according to PR Newswire. “Now the full recording is public … The American people can hear for themselves that the Laundry Service staff were laughing about setting me up to take a fall.”
Schnatter had previously received backlash over comments he had made in 2017 regarding his view that the NFL lacks leadership in dealing with players boycotting and kneeling for the national anthem. Schnatter had said that “by not resolving the current debacle to the player and owners’ satisfaction, NFL leadership has hurt Papa John’s shareholders.”
The Daily Caller reached out to the Wasserman Media Group and Laundry Service for comment.