Papa John founder tries to melt hearts

The embattled founderfoun of Papa John’s has a memessage for the pizza chain’chain’s employees: I miss you. John Schnatter (left)le resignedsigned as chairman of the board last month after he admitted uusing a racial slur on a media training call. SchnatSchnatter’s use of tthe Nword cappcapped a slew of cocontro- versies that have kept the chain in a harsh spotlight for nearly a year.

The executive took out an ad in the Louisville CourierJournal on Wednesday to appeal to workers at the company’s Kentucky HQ.

“I miss you all very much. More than words can express!” Schnatter wrote in the letter to employees, griping that the board of Papa John’s “will not let me talk to you and that has been very difficult.”

Sounding like a divorced dad writing to his estranged kids, Schnatter told employ- ees that “every minute of every day you are all in my thoughts and prayers.”

The ad directs readers to the www.savepapajohns.com Web site, which Schnatter has launched as he ratchets up a p.r. battle with the company he founded 34 years ago.

“I built Papa John’s from the ground up and remain its largest shareholder,” Schnatter says on his site’s home page. “The board wants to silence me. So this is my website, and my way to talk to you.”

The site include letters from his lawyers challenging Papa John’s right to lock Schnatter out of the company’s headquarters, and complaining that the chain is no longer subsidizing security for his mansion.

“No matter what John does, he will not be able to distract from the inappropriate comments he made,” the company said Wednesday.

Last month, soon after Schnatter stepped down as chairman, he expressed remorse for his hasty exit.

The two sides have been locked in an increasingly hostile battle ever since.

Under Schnatter’s handpicked successor, Steve Ritchie, the company has attempted to distance itself from Schnatter by taking down every photo or replica signature of the executive from its stores.

“We are not, nor should we be, dependent on one person. Papa John’s is 120,000 corporate and franchisee team members around the world,” the company said in its Wednesday statement.

Shares closed Wednesday at $42.74, down 8.1 percent from July 10, the day before Schnatter’s use of the N-word surfaced.