LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) – Papa John’s International founder John Schnatter plans to return to the public spotlight on Wednesday with the announcement of a large donation to Louisville’s Simmons College of Kentucky, a private, historically black institution.
Schnatter is scheduled to appear with Rev. Kevin Cosby, Simmons College’s president, to announce the gift Wednesday afternoon.
The pizza mogul has been largely absent from the public stage since he was ostracized by the other members of the company’s board of directors in July 2018 following his admitted use of an African American slur – a remark he said was not racist and was taken out of context.
“I just can’t think of a better place to invest in, as far as communities, than Simmons,” Schnatter, 57, said in a brief phone interview Tuesday.
He declined to say how much he’s giving but said it’s “substantial” and will also benefit the National Baptist Convention of America, International, a fellowship of African American Baptist churches that has close ties to Simmons.
In July 2018, Schnatter admitted using the N-word during a private conference call, in which the company’s former public relations agency was conducting a media training exercise. He apologized, but would later say the comment was “anti-racist” and mischaracterized.
Asked on Tuesday whether the donation to Simmons is an effort to repair his image, Schnatter said: “This is just about the kids and the school. If you’re right about the kids and school, the image will take care of itself.”
He also said he’s known Cosby for a decade and that the two men have a connection in Humana Inc. co-founder David Jones Sr., a “mutual mentor.”
Schnatter, who remains Papa John’s’ biggest shareholder, has maintained a low profile this year after deciding not to wage a fight for control of the company, giving up his seat on the board of directors and putting the brakes on a legal fight he had waged over his ouster as the company’s chairman.
Schnatter on Tuesday played down the significance of the Simmons College gift in elevating his profile, saying, “Nothing that I am doing is to be in the spotlight and I have no desire to be in the spotlight.”
Schnatter: Stock sales "my way of shorting" Papa John's
While on the sidelines, Schnatter has sold off nearly half his stake in the company, netting $209 million in cash in a series of transactions beginning in May, according to securities filings.
The sales have reduced his slice of Papa John’s to just under 17 percent, from about 31 percent earlier this year.
Schnatter told WDRB the sales are a way of hedging his bets.
“In my case, if the stock goes up, great – I’ve held a bunch (of stock) on … If the stock stays the same, then I was smart selling, too. If the stock goes down then I will be really glad that I sold,” Schnatter said.
Schnatter then added that the sales show a lack of confidence in the company’s future, saying: “When I sell the stock it’s my way of shorting the stock” – in other words, betting that it will go down.
Schnatter said he has doubts about whether Papa John’s – which abruptly replaced its CEO last week – is on the right track.
“I’ve tried to sit back and give the present board and the present leadership the space they need to see if they could run the company correctly. I am watching more closely than I have for a while, and I have some questions,” Schnatter said. “I have a giant question mark on whether these people can fix this business.”
A Papa John’s spokeswoman declined to comment.
Other colleges shunned Schnatter last year
Simmons’ embrace of Schnatter comes after other higher education institutions disassociated themselves with him last year, including the University of Louisville, the University of Kentucky, Ball State University and Purdue University.
Each took Schnatter’s name off free enterprise institutes the pizza mogul had donated millions of dollars to establish. U of L also changed the name of what had been called Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium.
“(A)ttempting to continue any financial relationship with Mr. Schnatter would be a painful and unnecessary barrier to our efforts of building a community where everyone is welcome and belongs,” UK President Eli Capilouto said in a statement shortly after Schnatter’s remark was first reported by Forbes.
Cosby wasn’t available for an interview Tuesday. In a news release, he said that Simmons, with Schnatter’s help, is “poised to be an agent of transformation.”
“John is making and will continue to make an important difference. His support will have a profound impact on Simmons’ capacity to serve our city, state and nation,” Cosby said in the release.
Schnatter, for his part, said Tuesday that the idea of his being a racist was trumped up by the company.
“The whole campaign about racism was all a farce and it was embellished by Papa John’s, and everybody saw right through that,” he said.
