Chrissy Teigen is shook. The Cravings author and food lover is not easily surprised when it comes to news about the culinary world, but a new revelation from disgraced Papa John’s founder and ex-CEO John Schnatter has really had an impact on the star.
Schnatter gave an interview with local news station WDRB in Kentucky on Monday, November 25, and lamented that the quality of the pizza produced by the chain he founded in 1984 has gone downhill since he resigned from the company in 2018.
The ousted businessman can make this assertion, he says, because he’s tried plenty of the product following his departure from the brand. “I’ve had over 40 pizzas in the last 30 days, and it’s not the same pizza,” Schnatter explained. “It’s not the same product. It just doesn’t taste as good.”
That claim is what stunned Teigen, 33. “Papa john has f—king HAD IT,” she tweeted along with a clip from Schnatter’s sit-down that references his pizza-eating habits. “He’s had 40 pizzas in 30 days.”
Even as many of the Bring the Funny judge’s followers attempted to make other points about the Indiana native and the interview, Teigen stuck to one refrain. “He’s had 40 pizzas in 30 days,” she told several fans.
Schnatter voluntarily resigned as Papa John’s CEO amid pressure from the company’s board of directors in July 2018. That decision followed his reported use of the N-word during a conference call with his company’s executives and marketing agency Laundry Service in May 2018. Ironically, the call was about media training in the wake of another controversy involving Schnatter and his criticism of NFL players taking a knee.
Schnatter later said he regretted his choice to resign and he’s now claiming the entire 2018 controversy was made up by members of Papa John’s board of directors in order to oust him. “They fabricated it,” he told WDRB. “Shame on them.”
Though Schnatter did admit to using the N-word on that phone call, he claims his remarks were taken out of context and that he uttered the phrase to convey his hatred of racism and was quoting another famous founder. “This is all a farce,” he explained. “Nothing sells like the truth, and the truth, sooner or later, all comes out.”
