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Disgraced pizza pusher, Louisville booster Papa John Schnatter shows up supporting Kentucky

Papa John showed up Tuesday supporting a Kentucky school that wasn’t Louisville. (Getty)
Papa John showed up Tuesday supporting a Kentucky school that wasn’t Louisville. (Getty)

John Schnatter, aka Papa John, is a disgrace.

He’s apparently trying to make his comeback in the public eye wearing blue.

Papa John backs big blue

Schnatter, famously a former major Louisville booster, was spotted with a prime seat for Tuesday’s Kentucky game against LSU. His shirt made clear where his loyalty lies.

It’s one of the first prominent sightings of Schnatter since a public breakup with Louisville on the heels of a public downfall.

Papa John’s downfall

The founder, former CEO and front man for the mediocre pizza chain provided enough evidence over the years that he’s racist that his own company eventually chose to disavow him.

His stance on the NFL’s national anthem controversy elicited the support of neo-Nazis. He later blamed NFL players social justice protests for Papa John’s falling stock prices.

His beliefs led the NFL to dump Papa John’s as the official pizza of the league for a competitor and eventually resulted in his stepping down as the company’s CEO.

Racial slur was final straw

He still retained his seat as chairman of the board. But that was before he decided using the N-word during a company training exercise while trying to figure out how to disassociate with the band of hate groups who had sided with Papa John’s was a good idea.

Per a Forbes report:

“(KFC founder) Colonel Sanders called blacks n—–s,” Schnatter said, before complaining that Sanders never faced public backlash.

That instance led MLB to end a partnership with Papa John’s and quickly led to the resignation of his seat on Papa John’s board.

Kentucky, Louisville both part ways with Papa John

Louisville eventually cut ties with Papa John’s in a move that involved removing the company’s name from its football stadium. The company had donated more than $20 million to the school, with much of it geared to athletics.

Kentucky also had significant ties with Schnatter, having accepted an $8 million donation from his foundation. It too cut ties with Schnatter, removing his name from the Institute for the Study of Free Enterprise in the Gatton College of Business.

But the school can’t stop him from showing up at basketball games. Even if it doesn’t support him, Papa John apparently will continue to cheer for Kentucky.

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