Ironically, Gov. Andrew Cuomo used a racial comment during a live radio interview last week, and African American state leaders rushed to defend him, showing their understanding of the intent and context of his words while also considering his character.
Cuomo’s situation is in stark contrast to the irrational overreaction and internal exploitation of my comments. The double standard is jarring. I would have hoped to have been given the benefit of the doubt, just as Cuomo was. Instead, unnamed sources reversed the meaning and intent of my words to damage me.
This has left the franchisees and the company to struggle without my leadership and brand expertise ever since.
I have a huge stake in Papa John’s, not just financially, but also with 35 years of my blood, sweat and tears. In August 2018, I tried warning my fellow directors and put out a news release that the performance of the company was bound to get worse. My prediction has been proved right for four quarters since then and still today.
This year, I opposed management’s budget proposal, because I recognized that, among other things, no one on the board and very few in executive leadership had any experience in the pizza industry. They couldn’t possibly understand the steps necessary to correct this very complicated, struggling business as I had on a number of occasions in the past. One such comeback led to the growth of our stock price from more than $87 per share in 2017, up from $6.50 per share in 2008.
More important, what I’ve observed in the months since then is that the Papa John’s management may be emphasizing cost-cutting over product quality. Even the pizzas don’t appear to be made the way that I made them just a few years ago.
“Better Ingredients. Better Pizza.” isn’t just a slogan — it represents our core belief about the quality of our products, starting with the signature ingredients in my original recipes, including fresh packed proprietary pizza sauce, original fresh dough and garlic butter.