Former CEO John Schnatter Slams Papa John’s After Claiming To Eat 800 Pizzas: ‘Some Were Burnt’

The former ousted CEO of Papa John’s (PZZA) is sounding off about the quality of the chain’s pizza once again after he claimed he ate about 800 of its pies in the last 18 months.

John Schnatter, who told Bloomberg he has been “sampling” the pizzas, said the results have been less than stellar: “Some were burnt,” he told the news outlet, “Some were undercooked.”

Schnatter has even posted comments to his Instagram account about the pizzas, saying, “When they don’t care about Better ingredients and Better Pizza,” with the hashtag #redflags.

This isn’t the first time that Schnatter has openly criticized Papa John’s pizza quality since 2018, when he left the company after he admitted to using a racial slur in a conference call with his PR firm.

Back in 2019, Schnatter claimed he had downed 40 pizzas in 30 days, telling WDRB, a Fox affiliate out of Louisville, that, “It's not the same pizza. It's not the same product. It just doesn't taste as good.”

Schnatter told Bloomberg his departure from Papa John’s was a “crucifixion.” He continued by saying, “It was unethical. It was immoral. It was evil.”

Following the incident, Schnatter apologized and stepped down from Papa John’s board. He then proceeded to sue the company, where he then released the audio tape of the call, which he contended falsely accused him of using the racial slur and proved he was set up.

Schnatter has maintained that he was forced to resign from Papa John’s, and the pizza quality has gone downhill since his exit.

Schnatter’s comments come as Papa John’s released its Q3 2021 earnings report on Thursday, where the pizza chain reported a revenue increase of 8.4% to $512.8 million. Comparable sales were also up in North America by 6.9% and internationally by 8.3%.

As of Thursday premarket hours, shares of Papa John's were trading at $127.97, up $4.70, or 3.81%.