Why Ted Allen Thinks You Should Stop Paying Attention To Papa John
"Chopped" host Ted Allen isn't mincing words when it comes to the embattled founder of Papa John's. But before we get into all of that, let's learn more about Papa himself. John "Papa John" Schnatter, who founded the pizza giant, stepped down in 2018 first as CEO of the company, then as chairman of the board after it came to light that he had used a racial slur, per NPR. The slur was in reference to his opinion on how the National Football League handled anthem protests.
Well, the Papa is back at it again, something the chain can't possibly be happy about, given that he's seemingly a walking PR nightmare. Bloomberg just published a fairly bizarre interview with Schnatter in which he talks about the "progressive elite left," presumably not in a good way. He also toured the reporter around his mansion, which, among other things, features a depiction of "Moses getting circumcised." His home also includes a giant, 16-foot-tall sculpture of two eagles mating.
Not surprisingly, these tidbits (and much of the rest of the interview) have set tongues a-wagging. But Ted Allen has a solution.
Ted Allen's suggestion for those angered by John Schnatter
Whether you find John Schnatter's statements and home decor offensive, annoying, or just plain odd, and can't separate him from Papa John's, there's an easy fix, per Ted Allen. "A point about this super-weird Papa John dude (the only point that matters): You can get much better pizza, pretty much anywhere," Allen tweeted.
One might argue that this punishes the nice people who still work there, but sometimes it's just too difficult to separate a person from their legacy. Especially if that legacy is pretty disgraced. There are people who see both sides of that story. In fact, TTTownJoe pointed out, "But is he at all involved with the company anymore?" Whereas, Ernest Faitos replied to the tweet, noting that those who shun Papa John's will "feel better about yourself in the bargain."
Even if you're not very opinionated one way or the other, Schnatter's antics are like the proverbial car wreck one can't turn their eyes away from. "This was the article I didn't know I needed to read today but I'm glad I did," tweeted o0FemmeFatale0o. "Wow, what a ride."