Papa John Speaks On Eating "40 Pizzas In 30 Days"

Ousted founder of Papa John’s, John Schnatter, was kicked out of the company for a leaked phone call where he’s heard making racial slurs but he swore the quality of pizzas declined heavily after his departure. He said that he “had 40 pizzas in 30 days,” a claim that had the Internet collectively scratching their heads. This was taken as his pizza consumption in the span of a 30-day cycle but in a recent interview with Ethan and Hila Klein, he explained it was merely for quality control.

Jason Merritt/Getty Images

“Well, I didn’t say I eaten 40 pizzas in 30 days. I said I had 40 pizzas in 30 days. When I said I had a pizza, it means I’m inspecting. I’m not eating every pizza,” he said before admitting that he “may be eating parts of pizzas.”

Schnatter said that he does still eat pizza at a consistent rate but it’s declined since his days at Papa John’s. “I probably eat eight or nine slices a week. When I was at Papa John’s, it was probably twelve or fifteen because we’re always testing out new products.” Papa John then suggested that pizza is actually nutritious which led Ethan to insist Shnatter was spewing out “pizza propaganda.”

Despite being kicked out of the company, he was forced to sell his stock. His current stock in the company is currently valued at over $500M.