Papa John’s CEO Apologizes After Employee’s Racial-Slur Filled Butt Dial Goes Viral… [VIDEO]

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Papa John’s CEO Apologizes After Employee’s Racial-Slur Filled Butt Dial Goes Viral… [VIDEO]

May, 28 2013 | Written by ATLien
Sanford, Fla., the city where Trayvon Martin was shot and killed, is in the news again this week thanks to a racist Papa John’s employee.

A Black Papa John’s customer checked his voice mail last Sunday evening and found a disturbing message from the man who’d just delivered his pizza to his home.

The Papa John’s employee apparently mistakenly butt-dialed his last customer and the customer’s voice mail caught the delivery driver singing a made-up, racial-slur-filled song, where he not only used the “N” word, but accused the customer and his wife of being bad tippers.

“That’s the only requirement for being a n*gger in Sanford,” says the voice in the message.

“Yeah, they gave me five bucks there. Fine, outstanding African-American gentleman of the community.” Then he begins to sing.

The customer posted video of the voice mail “performance” online and it immediately went viral. Now the Papa John’s employee has been terminated and the founder/CEO of the pizza chain has issued an apology.

Video of the racial-slur filled voice mail + Papa John’s apology below…

What do you think of Papa John’s apology regarding the incident?
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- BoutdatLife
  
  I think he should sue….
  
  Ashley
  
  Me too! My son just ordered pizza from Papa john’s last night!!!! I didnt know.2013 and this is still happening,its okay,God sheds light on these kind.
  
  So Yeah
  
  It was the person not the company!!!!! I’m sure John S. didn’t personally go down to Sanford, Fl and hire a racist employee to widely express his emotions about the black race. Don’t judge the company by someone else’s nonsense. Just saying……
  
  D1ckdame
  
  What you’re saying is true, but when you work for a company you represent that company. There are clauses in most job apps/new hire packets that mention trade secrets and company shame. When you are an employee of a corporation you represent that very corporation. His ignorant song and choice of words directly represented Papa Johns. So while John didn’t personally hire him, it’s still John’s company and everything falls on him.
  
  kinu
  
  Agreed. The CEO handled it quickly and effectively in my opinion, there were no damages to even sue for, and the guys got fired so.. everythings good, nothing to see here:)
  
  Michell
  
  I agree so yeah. The people were immediately fired and unfortunately that’s about all the owner can do. As a black woman I have hired a racist person and had no clue until they began exhibiting racist behaviors. just saying… its not always black and white. One idiot doesn’t make the company racist unless that idiot is the owner
  
  Ashley
  
  Wow!Really! If he felt that way he should have given the tip back.No he takes the tip and talk about the customer.Thats why they still do it,because its still okay with some of us.Ive heard worse ,is like saying its okay because he called me a fool; not a damn fool.smh……
  
  Ashley
  
  This is in response to Modern Day Woman.
  
  girlyee
  
  Who care the CEO has "Racis Pig" stamped on his forehead anyhoooo….
- cns
  
  Well I appreciated the timely firing and apology from the owner.
  
  Ashley
  
  Me too cns!
  
  KBebe
  
  @cns…so do I. Smh
- Reggie Davenport via Facebook
  
  I’m not shocked at all. Racism is still alive and well.
  
  humbleknight
  
  No doubt and it will never go away. Its a waste even trying.
- Joanna Edge Smith via Facebook
  
  Exactly! Then again black people call each other niggers anyway so no surprises there!
  
  Adeeva03
  
  NO Joanna Edge Smith we call each other Niggas. Not the same meaning.
  
  Jeloi
  
  I don’t use either term because neither is a term of endearment.
  
  KBebe
  
  @Jeloi, et. al…I do not use the word in any sense either. Why some African Americans claim they are reclaiming and redefining the racial slur "nigger" to "nigga" as a term of endearment escapes me. The original intent of the meaning by whites in the Pan-African enslaved, oppressive establishment in the U.S., particularly, was not empowering nor endearing. Quite the opposite. I am Brasilian; and, like many "foreigners" we do not understand the logical concept of African Americans embracing the term "nigger". The counter-argument is, "We say ‘nigga’ not ‘nigger’". But the slave owners and their crew were mostly illiterate in the South especially. Do you really think they were pronouncing "nigger" properly? Keep in mind that many Africans were taught to read by oppressors and other enslaved Africans "as is". Whites lost touch with the standard English education system, hence the variance of dialects in the United States. Linguistically, whites did not pronounce the -er sound — it was converted to the schwa ‘a’ sound and spelling, for example "nigga". I could go on, but hopefully you understand my point: "nigger" = "nigga" no matter how much it is camouflaged.
  
  RikkiTavi
  
  Adeeva03 the problem is AA’s claims the word means one thing when "they" say it, but something else when someone else does….how about clearing up the confusion and STOP using the word PERIOD!? You can’t get mad when you use the word in one context and then someone of a different race uses it the same way, simply because you perceive they meant it in a derogatory way. Stop using the word if it offends you if others use it, you are the reason it is so common, not them….you call everyone by that word….there are over a zillion words in the dictionary to describe whatever….use one of those instead. What a novel idea!
  
  KBebe
  
  @RikkiTavi…beautiful, brilliant!!!
  
  mstightgenes
  
  What does Black people calling each other Nigga have to do with this man’s HATRED????
- Fredrick L. Bishop BA via Facebook
  
  (in my Dr. Maya Angelou voice) “If someone shows you who they are… BELIEVE THEM.”
- Modern Day Woman
  
  Well, he was just stating how he felt. I’ve heard worse.
  
  mstightgenes
  
  He was mad that he was a Black man’s "delivery boy", that’s all that was about – self hatred.
- Jackie Rayne
  
  But isn’t Papa John’s the same copy who was firing people for voting for Obama in the 2nd term? OH okay Papa John’s will never get a pissing penny out of me. I haven’t had that nasty ass pizza since high school. F*CK THEM!
  
  cns
  
  Now where are the receipts? And if true then those fired employees need to sue.
  
  Tiff Dizzle
  
  He was making full time employee’s go to part time and laying off part time workers cus he didn’t want to pay for "Obama Care" thats what it was all about but then once MSNBC go the names of all the major companies who were making official statements to employees talking about Obama care a lot of companies "retracted" there former statements ie papa johns
  
  woo
  
  I used to love papa johns as soon as obama won the ten large pizza’s went up 2bucks in price…shame on him..and to all those who are shocked that racism still exist…Sanford is a little dirt road country town ran by mostly BLACKS and its dirty its also known as BOKEY to Orlando residents…so he works in a town where he is the minority… dont worry.
- Fl to Va chick
  
  Cowards! and it’s not the same as(some)black people calling each other that stupid name because it’s usually face to face..not in secret w/racist intent. I hate bad,disrespectful customer service reps like(from experience)some(white)cashiers at check out,they’ll say "hun" or "darling"..so I say it back louder and they always look shocked and offended.
- Tasha
  
  The CEO was not the one who said the racial slurs. I think it’s retarded to put 2 guys ignorance on an entire franchise. Glad he fired those loser’s though……
  
  D1ckdame
  
  If you owned a company with YOUR name in the title, do you think you should not be held responsible for this type of shame that YOUR employees brought forth? This is also very public at this point. Do you really feel that you should not be held accountable in any way, because it wasn’t you but it was your employee? No shade, but a very serious question. Whether John said it or not his company’s name is in the headlines.
  
  KBebe
  
  @D1ckdame…I agree. The two ignorant employees were a reflection of the company/ corporation as a whole. The Chairman/CEO would have been remissed if he did not respond publicly. The greatest consumers in the United States are women [as a whole] and African Americans. If the Chairman/CEO did nothing, he would have potentially put his company/corporation at risk. I listened to the racist commentary on YouTube…it was worse than I thought. Smh. Papa Johns HAD to do damage control.
  
  kiki
  
  Yes, they reflect the company. But all the company can do is fire them in a timely fashion. Had they still been employed after all this mess than yes, it will reflect the company. Racist people have to work to, they are everywhere! You have no way of knowing a person you hire is racist until the do something racist. Then it’s about how you handle it that makes or break the company.
- Tasha
  
  …and if they tipped 5 dollars then they shouldn’t have been bi*ching…most people don’t tip the pizza delivery guys any damn thing!
  
  nappy
  
  I agree. 5 bucks was a good tip.
  
  kinu
  
  that’s what my man just said.
  
  KBebe
  
  $5.00 was a great tip! What the hell was he complaining about? Would he have complained and made a lame a$$ "song" if a white person tipped him that much? Who the hell is he?! He is a pizza delivery guy. Don’t get it twisted. $5.00 was a great tip. 21% wise as the couple in the video said.
  
  kiki
  
  I didn’t wanna say it but I was thinking like, damn they tip better than me lol. I let them keep the change be it $1 or $3. Anything more than that and you must have been an outstanding delivery person lol.
- humbleknight
  
  The fact black people still get upset cause whites dont like us is lame too. Who cares what whites think. They cant spot anything we doing. I would have just deleted the message and keep pushing, but if negros want to blow up *shrugs* these comment sound like something from a Boondocks episode. White pizza boy dont like blacks = World War 3??? ok yall.
  
  humbleknight
  
  reminds me of the episode where Lil Riley was called a Nigger by a school teacher and they thought they was bout to be rich cause of that. They ended up getting nothing. Which is exactly what this person will get. All this Bullshit to distract us from things that really matter. NEWSFLASH many whites dont like black and frankly I dont give a 10th of a shit. Fuck all that politcal correct thit too. You dont like blacks, gays, muslims, republicans, mexicans etc etc..say that shit. Dont hold it in.
  
  LADYE
  
  Lets just hope that none of your family members or loved ones will never have to stand trial in a jury of his peers..Because these people that you don’t get flustered about liking you because of your race…are your peers..It does matter..
- Shawn
  
  Kudos to the CEO for reaching out to the customer as well as for terminating the employee! Most companies just leave it at "we’re investigating".
- Bee
  
  Can’t say that I’m surprised. I stopped ordering Papa John’s immediately after the CEO’s rant against "Obamacare".
- 2bme
  
  This is why they’re working for Papa John’s and NOT owning franchise or teh company itself..your job is to show up with the pizza..a tip is a considerate gesture, but not mandatory and neither is the amount, hell the company pays for your gas!..People and their entitlement….
  
  KBebe
  
  So true. And what I notice when I am in the United States ordering pizza is a delivery fee included. So technically, the company has already collected on that. Anything extra goes directly to the deliverer at the discretion of the customer. I still wonder what that guy was expecting and complaining about. #ehhembills#it
  
  2bme
  
  He chose the job, he knows the risks..but again. there’s a reason why that person is the way they are and will never prosper
- new2daA
  
  When are people going to stop being surprised that waitress at the waffle house or the pizza delivery boy is a racist? To be honest, when someone insults me, I always consider the source. I’m telling y’all, youtubing and facebooking every damn thing is gonna be the detriment to our society. The reality is, if the customer was upset about the message he should have just told the damn pizza place and settled it with them. This is ridiculous and really shouldn’t even be news. Depending on the amount of the bill, $5 is really not a good tip, definitely with the damn price of gas these days..two wrongs obviously don’t make a right but the delivery boy thought he was in the privacy of his own car. The call wasn’t intentional and shit, I’ve called a few of my bosses out of their name in the privacy of my own car or home…Thank God I didn’t butt dial them in the process.
  
  cns
  
  Well if they order $20 worth of pizza then the $5 tip was at 25%. It is customary to tip 15-20%. Know if they had tipped this racist $100 dollar he would have accused them of being drug dealers.
  
  new2daA
  
  …but he’s the pizza delivery guy though…no offense, but who really cares what he thinks? As long as that pizza gets that hot and ready under 30 minutes, he can think any damn thing he wants. His problem is, he butt dialed the wrong damn person.
- PJ
  
  Horrible. I wonder did he really tip. I live in Atlanta…I’m black and a great tipper however I know plenty of people in the food business (all black) that hate to have black customers because they are notorious for bad tipping.
  
  new2daA
  
  …I use to work in the hospitality industry and it is known that black people are bad tippers…and I’m black as well…but, they are not the worst! I would take a table full of black folks any day over a table of Indians….man, they are the absolute WORST!
- Lori
  
  IGNORANT!! I hope this isn’t the typical mindset and views of the overall Sanford community. Trayvon will NEVER get a fair trial. They both need to be sued for being ignorant!
- GirlieGirl
  
  Given some of the things John has said regarding The Affordable Care Act and the that he fundraised for Mitt Romney, I stopped giving Papa John’s my money ages ago.
  
  RikkiTavi
  
  GirlieGirl , et al, You should go read the Affordable Care Act to see WHY he opposed it before concluding he is a bad person or racist or whatever. Try to see it from the perspective of a business person and the impact it would potentially have on your ability to continue. That legislation means everyone ends up paying more in the end, even if you have a good job and insurance already, it is laced with loopholes, etc….just take a look at it before you draw conclusions about those who oppose it.
  
  Kudos to him for apologizing, he is not responsible for another man’s actions, but the company name is at stake and some people are foolish enough to assume that is the company’s stance simply because they hired the man. How dumb is that?
  
  Pon_de
  
  Sweetie you already pay more in dollars when uninsured people need to shoplift pain medicine from Rite Aid and get their primary care at the emergency room. You already pay more in service experience when uninsured people come to their place of business sick in order to serve you when they should be at the doctor’s office. Check the receipts. He vehemently opposed the ACA, claiming it would add a whopping $0.11-$0.14 per pizza to implement. $0.14!? You riding for a man who is literally counting pennies that his customers would never even notice while real life people go without a basic life necessity….smh. Put a damn note on the receipt if that’s deep *$0.15 surcharge to help this Papa John’s store pay for quality healthcare. Thank you for supporting our employees* That’s what a smart and conscientious businessman would do.
  
  KBebe
  
  @RikkiTavi…great insight. Most people have not actually read the entire Act to understand the ramifications, whether good or bad depending on their situation(s), especially from a business or "have-got" perspective.
  
  Hold on Ho
  
  Yeah, from the dude that gives away 1 million free pizzas at the super ball…what the feck ever.
- Meka
  
  Sheeeit! The racist whore better be happy he got a $5 tip with that expensive ass $20 pizza, but I would never order from them, again after that.
- Jrsgummy
  
  The way these people act from the cleanliness of the restaurant to the treatment of customers, you are better off staying at home and making your own food.
  
  If the man tipped 5 dollars on a 15 dollar pizza that is more than enough, actually way more than enough. At the same time, if you can’t tip at least 15%, you shouldn’t be eating out.
- ScriptTease
  
  Exactly how much of a tip was he expecting for his pizza delivery? Five dollars is pretty good IMO.
- jbm
  
  Smart phones….dumb asses. I’m glad the CEO acted quickly, but we all know this type of behavior is still out there and will not change anytime soon. The customer won’t get any money, but probably free pizza for a year.
- Ms Aries
  
  I am black, and a very fair tipper. I learned from my father,and my children learned from me. I just want to clairify something.
  
  (some) not all blacks are bad tippers. also (some) not all whites are bad tippers I was exposed to eating out at nice restaurants at a very early age, so I learned about tipping. I think a lot of people do not know what it really means.
- BaddieNeisha
  
  I know people say that black people call each other niggers but it a difference I think the intent of the word has a lot to with the person. I never understood the difference until i was called a nigger by old white man the say he said it and looked at me i just felt so small. SMH as people we gotta do better.
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