{"id":352443,"date":"2021-03-30T18:00:53","date_gmt":"2021-03-30T22:00:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=352443"},"modified":"2021-03-30T18:01:01","modified_gmt":"2021-03-30T22:01:01","slug":"papa-john-says-pr-company-planted-racism-allegations-after-he-would-not-pay-6m","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/papa-john-says-pr-company-planted-racism-allegations-after-he-would-not-pay-6m\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Papa John\u2019 Says PR Company Planted Racism Allegations After He Would Not Pay $6M"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">28<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fpapa-john-says-pr-company-planted-racism-allegations-after-he-would-not-pay-6m%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=352443&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/fb_image-4623.jpeg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" \/><\/div>\n<p>A public relations firm hired to promote Papa John instead conspired to destroy its own client because the firm\u2019s \u201cwoke\u201d staff did not like his political views and after an executive threatened to \u201cbury\u201d him unless the pizza firm paid the company $6 million, according to a lawsuit and newly disclosed evidence that supports it.<\/p>\n<p>Pizza firm founder John Schnatter was the subject of negative media coverage in 2017 for remarks related to NFL players kneeling for the national anthem. Schnatter said in an earnings call that \u201cby not resolving the current debacle to the player and owners\u2019 satisfaction, NFL leadership has hurt Papa John\u2019s shareholders,\u201d because it had depressed football viewership and the company is a major NFL advertiser. Media coverage portrayed this as being insufficiently supportive of players\u2019 racial cause.<\/p>\n<p>PR firm Laundry Service, which was involved in advertising for Papa John\u2019s and tasked with burnishing Schnatter\u2019s image, held a call on May 22, 2018 which it ambushed him with questions about race and secretly recorded it, according to a lawsuit and documents obtained by The Daily Wire.<\/p>\n<p>During the call, the company appeared to put Schnatter on mute to mock him, with Laundry Service founder Jason Stein saying, \u201cThis is what happens when a sociopath spirals,\u201d as a colleague laughed, according to a <a href=\"https:\/\/thepapajohnschnatter.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/05_22_18_-Transcript.pdf\">transcript<\/a> of the call.<\/p>\n<p>Schnatter eventually expressed frustration and bafflement that NFL remarks \u2014 which were aimed at \u201cNFL leadership\u201d and called for \u201csatisfaction\u201d of the players \u2014 were portrayed as racist. \u201cWhat bothers me is Colonel Sanders called blacks n******. I\u2019m like, I\u2019ve never used that word. And they get away with it\u2026 Yet we use the word debacle and we get framed in the same genre. It\u2019s crazy,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>After the call ended, the recording continued as Stein said, \u201cI hope he gets f***kin\u2019 sent out to the pasture on this sh**. I really, really f***kin\u2019 do.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A female, apparently a Laundry Service employee, said he had expressed insufficient support for NFL players. \u201cHe\u2019s all about like money and to me the players saying that they\u2019re still going to protest is because they\u2019re saying this is a real issue\u2026 It\u2019s like a lack of self-awareness and a lack of curiosity, and a lack of trying to like change his view, or attack it in his life, because if you just want to live in this box, then that is the ingredient to racism.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>On the call, Stein \u2014 in his capacity as a PR adviser trying to make Schnatter look good \u2014 had told him he \u201cthought it would be smart to do a live interview on Twitter with Darren Rovell.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But after the call, he seemed to reveal that his was a setup. \u201cMake sure it\u2019s an hour-long conversation, so that he says sh\u2013 like he said here. It\u2019s gonna come out,\u201d Stein said, while a colleague added,&nbsp;\u201cI want whatever we recorded to be like the actual interview.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The transcript suggests that the apparent setup was in the works since before anything Schnatter said on the call. \u201cI told Darren by the end of it, it needs to be viral,\u201d Stein said.<\/p>\n<p>Laundry Service staffers\u2019 indignation seemed to have at least as much to do with politics as it did with race.<\/p>\n<p>Referencing that Schnatter had said he supported the libertarian group Americans for Prosperity, a Laundry Service staffer said, \u201cThat\u2019s a f***king super right wing, like crazy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo, he\u2019s BFFs with Pence,\u201d then-Laundry Service employee Tim Polder said, according to the transcript.<\/p>\n<p>Laundry Service has cultivated a \u201cwoke\u201d environment, even though, according to its web site, <a href=\"https:\/\/247laundryservice.com\/about\/\">none of its own<\/a> current leadership team is black. In 2020, Randi White, then vice president of client services, gave an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.adforum.com\/interviews\/culture-is-our-business-randi-white-laundry-service\">interview<\/a> about how she believed corporations should be involved in politics.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCulture is our business, at Laundry Service. It\u2019s how we build relationships with people and inspire action\u2026 Brands can engage authentically by making the cause a part of who they are, and ensuring there\u2019s a long-term plan to continue to support the cause,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019ve been involved in the Black Lives Matter movement by advising my clients on the core issues, the long-standing history of systemic racism, personal experiences, and the lasting effects of not only overt racism but covert racism and prejudices\/microaggressions,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n<p>But this is not always good for business. Laundry Service lost Papa John\u2019s as a client, and on July 9, 2018, 10% of its staff \u2014 some 40 to 60 people, including Stein \u2014 received notice that they were being <a href=\"https:\/\/digiday.com\/marketing\/laundry-service-lays-off-10-percent-staff-founder-jason-stein\/\">laid off<\/a> by Wasserman, a sports marketing firm that is its its parent company.<\/p>\n<p>Two days after the layoff announcement, a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/noahkirsch\/2018\/07\/11\/papa-johns-founder-john-schnatter-allegedly-used-n-word-on-conference-call\/?sh=5357a0ef4cfc\">thinly-sourced story<\/a> appeared in Forbes that said that \u201cJohn Schnatter\u2014the founder and public face of pizza chain Papa John\u2019s\u2014used the N-word on a conference call in May.\u201d Schnatter resigned as chairman of the company immediately afterward.<\/p>\n<p>But something else had happened before the layoffs, Schnatter\u2019s lawsuit alleged: In June 2018, \u201cCasey Wasserman, the CEO of Laundry Service\u2019s parent company, told Papa John\u2019s then-CEO Steve Ritchie that he would \u2018bury the founder\u2019 (i.e., Mr. Schnatter) if Laundry Service was not paid $6 million dollars.\u201d The lawsuit said:<\/p>\n<blockquote readability=\"13\">\n<p>Following this threat to \u201cbury the founder\u201d\u2014and in apparent retaliation for Papa John\u2019s refusing to pay Laundry Service $6 million\u2014Defendants leaked to Forbes magazine excerpts of their May 22, 2018, call with Mr. Schnatter. But rather than provide the true context of what Mr. Schnatter actually said, Defendants provided information out of context, suggesting he had used a racial slur against African Americans. In short, they created an impression that Mr. Schnatter had communicated something opposite to what he said.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Laundry Service has contended money was owed money for services rendered, but Schnatter\u2019s representatives say the amount in dispute was never that large.<\/p>\n<p>The lawsuit said the contract had confidentiality and non-disparagement clauses and that Laundry Service\u2019s \u201cconduct was in bad faith and defeated one of the bargained for benefits of the Service Agreement: the enhancement of Mr. Schnatter\u2019s image and brand.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Requests for comment to Laundry Service and the Wasserman firm were not immediately returned, but Laundry Service has previously denied leaking the recording.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNow, almost a year and a half after Schnatter suffered public backlash for his own conduct, he sues defendant Laundry Service, \u2026 and defendant Wasserman Media Group \u2026 in an effort to blame them, contrary to facts, for allegedly leaking Schnatter\u2019s use of racially explosive language,\u201d Laundry Service said in a court filing.<\/p>\n<p>Laundry Service has worked for firms including Adobe, Amazon, Fox, Hennessy, Major League Baseball, the NBA, Nike, and tic tac, according to its website.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Related: Poll: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/poll-64-of-americans-see-cancel-culture-as-a-threat-to-their-freedom\">64% Of Americans See \u2018Cancel Culture\u2019 As A Threat To Their Freedom<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><i>The Daily Wire is one of America\u2019s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a<\/i>&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/subscribe\">member<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A public relations firm hired to promote Papa John instead conspired to destroy its own client because the firm\u2019s \u201cwoke\u201d staff did not like his political views and after an &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2311414,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/fb_image-4623.jpeg","fifu_image_alt":"\u2018Papa John\u2019 Says PR Company Planted Racism Allegations After He Would Not Pay $6M","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-352443","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/fb_image-4623.jpeg","fifu_image_alt":"\u2018Papa John\u2019 Says PR Company Planted Racism Allegations After He Would Not Pay $6M","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/352443","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=352443"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/352443\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2311414"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=352443"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=352443"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=352443"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}