Papa John's International Inc. founder and former CEO John Schnatter opened up about his ouster from the pizza chain he started on this week's Access Louisville podcast.
He also discusses the existence of two tapes, which he say proves there was a choreographed setup aimed at removing him. These tapes have not been made public, but are a part of a lawsuit Schnatter has again 247 Group LLC (doing business as Laundry Service) and Wasserman Media Group.
Schnatter left the Papa John's in 2018 after a report surfaced he allegedly used a racial slur while on a media training call with Laundry Service. We talked about that on the podcast too, including asking Schnatter about the context of those comments.
It was a wide-ranging interview in which we covered everything from food trends, a proposed raise in minimum wage, his ouster from Papa John's, the new leadership at Papa John's and more. It's a lot to unpack, so here's some timestamps to navigate the program:

• 0:58: The next big menu trend
• 3:12: Concerns on business regulations
• 6:55: Proposed minimum wage increase
• 8:15: Papa John's leaving Louisville and Schnatter's next business
• 14:10: The aforementioned lawsuit and the tapes
• 17:30: The reasons behind the alleged setup
• 19:10: When do we get to hear the tapes?
• 23:30: Why the alleged racial slur happened
• 25:50: The Louis Freeh report
• 28:50: Current CEO Rob Lynch is "delusional"
• 34:29: Removing former CEO Steve Ritchie, who followed Schnatter as head of the company
• 35:31 Jet setting and local restaurant picks
• 36:40: Social media presence
• 39:20: Thought's on LouVino (Steve Ritchie's new restaurant)

Access Louisville is a weekly podcast from Louisville Business First. It's available on popular podcast services.