Papa John's Founder Slammed for Cable News Comments on Hurricane Ian: 'I Lost a Home' John Schnatter, the ousted CEO of the pizza chain, appeared on a news segment to talk about the devastation in Southwest Florida.
By Emily Rella
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
The founder and former CEO of Papa John's Pizza, John Schnatter, is under fire again after making insensitive comments about losing property amid the wrath of Hurricane Ian.
Schnatter was interviewed on OAN cable news this week where he opened up about how he "lost a home" during the storm.
The interviewer pointed out that Schnatter was taking the call from one of his other homes in Park City, Utah, and that the images on the screen were of his Naples, Florida home that appeared to be "completely underwater" calling the sight "heartbreaking."
The interviewer asked Schnatter, who has no meteorology experience, just how bad the situation was down in Florida, despite previously noting that he was not there.
"That gives you a little bit of perspective, the pictures, on how devastating this storm is. I'm not really worried about myself because I have the resources and the team and institutional knowledge, but you just can't imagine how bad this is," Schnatter said. "My heart goes out to the folks in Florida. Yeah, I lost a home, but they lost everything."
Most users on social media seemed to be aggravated or downright confused as to why, of all people, Schnatter was chosen as the "hurricane expert" for the segment.
I'm not worried because I have 600 million and can afford proper insurance. OAN is ridiculous.
— chris ream (@tiredofita11) October 4, 2022
what does papa john know about hurricane ian that I don't
— b (@bbubbleguts) October 4, 2022
Bro, who tf cares what papa John has to say about Hurricane Ian
— FrostSailsYT (@FrostSails) October 4, 2022
Papa John lives in the mountain town of Park City, UT... the last time we experienced a hurricane was never https://t.co/jNr3LjgvMj
— Graham-Dad (@The_Local_Yocal) October 4, 2022
Unless Papa John is giving free pizzas to hurricane victims, I don't want to hear anything from him.
— Troy Minos (@TroyMinos) October 4, 2022
Schnatter's net worth is estimated at $500 million. The pizza founder owns multiple homes, including a 16-acre main property dubbed the "Papa Castle" in Louisville, Kentucky. He reportedly purchased it for $11 million.
Schnatter stepped down as CEO of his company back in 2018, after he vocalized that he was unhappy with the NFL's support of the knee-taking protests that were popping up on the field. Papa John's is a sponsor of the NFL.
Months later, he was ousted as Chairman of the Board of the pizza chain after a leaked conference call revealed that he had used racial slurs in discussing his contention with the NFL.
Papa John's was down around 40% in a one-year period as of Wednesday afternoon.
