For a business about making and selling pizzas, Papa John's has gone through non-stop drama, infighting, and controversy in recent years. While every company has its problems, Papa John’s takes the cake with the founder trashing his own company in public. But when a founder says a racial remark in a recorded business meeting, it’s an offense so great that no company could sweep under the rug.

Companies rarely go to war against their own founders. But the timing, evidence, and volume of media covering John’s misconduct was so sudden, strong, and overwhelming that it was no coincidence. The Board wanted to bury John. It would not be enough to exile the founder and former CEO. John was an evil spirit and what Papa John’s needed as a company was an exorcism.

Since his removal in 2018, John has climbed out of the dirt and gone on a high-profile, mud-slinging, counter-offensive rarely seen in usually tight-lipped corporate America. Was John Schnatter actually a good CEO or was he an egotistical founder holding his own company back? How could a pizza company have so much drama? Was John the victim of a scheme by his former best friend? What were the strategies before and after John - and how is Papa John doing now without him? In this episode and business case study, we’ll cover the exorcism of Papa John’s in its 6 regimes.

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