A Papa John's store in Westminster, Colorado. (Reuters)
Pizza maker Papa John’s distanced itself from white nationalists, after a supremacist website declared the company as the official pizza of the alt-right following the CEO's remarks that NFL anthem protests hurt the sales.
“We condemn racism in all forms and any and all hate groups that support it. We do not want these individuals or groups to buy our pizza,” Peter Collins, Papa John’s senior director of public relations, told the Louisville Courier Journal on Monday.
The move was prompted after a neo-Nazi website the Daily Stormer announced the company as the official go-to pizza for white supremacists.
Papa John’s – the official pizza of the NFL – got the attention of the alt-right after CEO John Schnatter said last week that protesting NFL athletes led to tanking sales.
The company reportedly lost $70 million in value, forcing Schnatter to pull his ads associated with the league, saying “the NFL has hurt us,” Fox News reported. He also blamed the NFL’s leadership for letting the athletes continue protesting during the national anthem and for “not resolving the current debacle.”
The number of NFL players kneeling during the anthem has decreased over the weeks, with only around eight players kneeling during the games on Sunday – way below its peak in September following President Donald Trump’s remarks that kneeling athletes should be fired.
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