The founder of Papa John's has resigned as the company's chairman of the board after admitting he used the N-word during a conference call earlier this year.
According to Forbes, it happened when John Schnatter was on a call with a marketing agency in May.
They were discussing plans to prevent future public relations headaches after Schnatter criticized the NFL for its handling of the protests during the national anthem. He was reportedly trying to downplay the reaction to his criticism when he said, "Colonel Sanders called blacks ..." — and then the slur.
In a statement, Schnatter admitted to using the slur. He apologized and said, "Racism has no place in our society."
But Wednesday night, the company released a statement saying Schnatter was out. At the time of the statement's release, Schnatter was still prominently featured in the company's logo.
Schnatter had already stepped down as CEO of Papa John's following the NFL controversy. He partially blamed the league for the pizza chain's declining sales. The company said it would appoint a new chairman of the board in the coming weeks.
