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The original Papa John is suing Papa John's and people are freaking out

John Schnatter
Papa John's founder John Schnatter. Rob Kim/Getty Images
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  • John Schnatter, who founded Papa John's, is suing the company after he resigned as chairman.
  • He left after he reportedly used the N-word on a company call. Now he regrets it.
  • People are making jokes about the lawsuit at his expense.

 

Papa John's founder John Schnatter is suing Papa John's over his ousting as chairman of the pizza delivery chain.

Schnatter resigned from his company's board following a controversy where he reportedly used a racist slur during a company call.

"Colonel Sanders called blacks n-----s," Schnatter said, according to Forbes.

Schnatter later said he regretted resigning, and is seeking company documents for his case. Schnatter still owns 29% of the company's shares.

"Mr. Schnatter’s attorneys are seeking to inspect Company documents because of the unexplained and heavy-handed way in which the Company has treated him since the publication of a story that falsely accused him of using a racial slur," Schnatter’s attorneys said in a statement provided to Reuters.

The complaint, filed in a Delaware court, is called Schnatter v. Papa Johns International Inc, not, unfortunately, Papa John v. Papa John's.

But people still find the situation funny. No matter how the lawsuit shakes out, people are joking about the original Papa John.

If you can't trust your own company, can you trust anyone?

It must be depressing to sue a company you named after yourself.

Some people see it as a coup.

And many people haven't forgiven him for using a racist slur.

Earlier, people wondered if a new Papa John would be chosen for the brand.

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Jacob Shamsian
Jacob Shamsian is a correspondent on Business Insider's Enterprise news desk. He is also a Global Reporter for Axel Springer.He was previously on BI's Legal Affairs desk, covering major litigation, courtroom trials, and the legal industry.Jacob has reported on the criminal trials of Donald TrumpGhislaine Maxwell, Sam Bankman-Fried, Sean "Diddy" CombsR. Kelly, and Anna Sorokin (AKA Anna Delvey), He's also covered blockbuster civil trials, including both E. Jean Carroll v. Trump trials, the New York Attorney General's fraud trial against TrumpSarah Palin v. The New York Times, and Johnny Depp v. Amber Heard.His stories have been cited in judicial rulings, lawsuits, letters from congressional committees, and in numerous media publications. He was a pool reporter in Donald Trump's Manhattan criminal trial.Jacob has been interviewed on CNN, the docuseries "Surviving R. Kelly," ABC's "Good Morning America," and BBC News, among other programs. His work has been cited by media outlets, including The New York Times, Bloomberg News, The Washington Post, Vanity Fair, and New York magazine. He's also written for GQ, The Awl, The New Republic, Entertainment Weekly, Time, and Modern Farmer.You can reach Jacob on Signal at JacobShamsian.07.