The former CEO of Papa John’s Pizza John Schnatter is under fire after denying allegations of racism and boasting about the 20 months he spent removing the N-word from his vocabulary.

Schnatter appeared in an interview on One America News Network where he denied allegations of racism, which he accused members of the Papa John’s Pizza board of creating.

Schnatter claimed he was left in a “state of shock” after seeing headlines smearing his name by board members that decided to “paint the founder as a racist.” Despite the claims, the former CEO denied being racist and insisted he changed his ways.

“We’ve had three goals for the last 20 months,” he said. “To get rid of this N-word in my vocabulary and dictionary and everything else, because it’s just not true. Figure out how they did this, and get on with my life.”

Following his interview, Papa John’s became a trending topic on Twitter from people criticizing Schnatter over his belief that he wasn’t racist since he attempted to remove the derogatory word from his vocabulary.

“The ex-CEO of Papa John has spent 20 months trying to reduce his use of the n-word. How many times per day was he saying it before?!?! Does he need a shock collar and someone pressing a button every time he says it?” one person wrote.

Another person added, “Papa John really learned a lesson...just not the right one. Apparently, he’s still the victim? Also, how much were you using it that it’s taken you 20 months to stop saying? How does it take even 20 MINUTES to stop saying it?”

Meanwhile, one person admitted they stopped buying food from the pizza chain and have no plans on making any purchases in the future.

“Oh so the racist ex-CEO of Papa John’s says it took him 20 months to stop saying a racist word? This is why Papa Johns pizza has been forever banned from my household and has been for years,” the individual wrote.

Schnatter lost his CEO role in his company in 2018, Complex reports. The businessman was ousted following comments he made about NFL players protesting the national anthem and later using the N-word during a company conference call.

John Schnatter
Papa John's founder John Schnatter resigned from the company for using a racial slur. In this image, John Schnatter (R), founder and chief executive of Papa John's Pizza, arrives at the 2011 American Music Awards in Los Angeles, Nov. 20, 2011. REUTERS/Danny Moloshok
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