John Schnatter, a prominent University of Louisville booster who founded the Papa John's pizza chain, submitted his resignation to the school's board of trustees Wednesday after a story came to light about his use of the N-word during an internal conference call.
Louisville board of trustees chairman J. David Grissom said in a statement that Schnatter resigned, though Grissom said he believed "[Schnatter's] comments, while inappropriate, do not reflect his personal beliefs or values."
Papa John's announced Wednesday evening that Schnatter had resigned from the company's chairman seat.
Forbes first reported Wednesday that Schnatter participated in a conference call in May with Papa John's executives and marketing agency Laundry Service. It was meant to prepare him for an interview to try to repair his public image. Schnatter had left his position as CEO of Papa John's, which was an official sponsor of the NFL, in December after saying that NFL players should stand for the national anthem, and that the controversy about the issue had hurt the company's sales. Two months later, Papa John's prematurely ended its deal with the league, and the NFL quickly sold the deal to Pizza Hut, a Papa John's competitor.