'Papa John' hires Harvey Weinstein's lawyer

LOUISVILLE -- Papa John's founder John Schnatter has hired an attorney who's representing disgraced movie executive Harvey Weinstein against the company he founded.

Los Angeles trial lawyer Patricia Glaser had been enlisted by Schnatter, who said in a letter to the company Saturday�that he will�fight his removal as the Papa John's chairman and that he's being maligned by reports of his use of a racial slur during a media training session in May.�

Schnatter and Glaser request that the Papa John's board form a special committee to review the facts surrounding the incident, according to letters obtained by the Louisville�Courier Journal.�

Glaser is a well-known defense attorney who Weinstein hired to negotiate with�The Weinstein Co., after it terminated the�ex-Hollywood mogul's employment related to dozens of misconduct allegations.�

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Papa John's founder John Schnatter. December 19, 2012  Michael Clevenger/The Courier-JoFullscreen John Schnatter of Papa John's Pizza  , Larry Spitzer/Courier Journal Fullscreen Papa John's founder John Schnatter chats in the hall after a seminar speech at the Galt East in Louisville.- Sept. 24, 1996  Paul Schaumann/Courier JournalFullscreen John 'Papa John' Schnatter.  file photoFullscreen Papa John's International marked the opening of its 3,000th store by giving away fresh tomatoes and pizza slices in New York.- -CEO Nigel Travis and Chairman John Schnatter also took part in a ceremonial opening of Nasdaq Stock Market trading as part of the festivities, and the company donated $20,000 and fresh produce to City Harvest, an organization that feeds the hungry in New York.  Copyright 2005 The Courier Journal, No Courier JournalFullscreen John Schnatter, founder of Papa John's Pizza stands on a staircase in the lobby of the company's headquarters. By Pat McDonogh, The Courier-Journal. Jan. 26, 2016.  By Pat McDonogh/The Courier JournalFullscreen Papa John's founder John Schnatter tastes a spoonful of pizza sauce May 20, 1997.  Michael ClevengerFullscreen Papa John's Pizza founder John Schnatter told Anchorage residents at a special meeting that he plans to build a walking trail from the center of the city to E.P. "Tom" Sawyer State Park, regardless of whether the city sells him the five-acre Bellewood property. Photo by Chris Otts April 2007. *date of photo is unknown  Chris Otts/The Courier JournalFullscreen John Schnatter, (right) Founder of Papa John's Pizza, talked with Tracy Proffit (left) Chef Douglas Bond (left center) and Terry Lewis manager of the campus restaurant in Louisville. -March 28, 2009  Chris Hall/The Courier JournalFullscreen John Schnatter received a national award for the two-mile public trail Schnatter built on his property in Anchorage earlier this year. - Nov. 25, 2008.  Kylene Lloyd/The Courier JournalFullscreen John Schnatter received a national award for the two-mile public trail Schnatter built on his property in Anchorage earlier this year. - Nov. 25, 2008.  KYLENE LLOYDFullscreen Papa John's founder, John Schnatter, recovered the 1971 Camaro he sold years ago to support his business. - Aug. 25, 2009  Michael Hayman/The Courier JournalFullscreen Papa John's CEO John Schnatter, left, and Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones announced a joint venture yesterday at the Cowboys' camp. - Aug. 3, 2004, in Oxnard, Calif. Jones announced a joint venture in the Dallas, Austin and Waco, Texas markets with Papa John's International, Inc. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)  Tony Gutierrez, Copyright 2004 The Courier-Journal;NO COURIER-JOURNALFullscreen Papa John's founder and CEO John Schnatter spoke to shareholders during the annual meeting.Mary Ann Lyons, May 20, 1999  Mary Ann Lyons, Copyright 1999 The Courier-Journal;YES COURIER-JOURNALFullscreen Papa John's Founder, Chairman and CEO John Schnatter gets a kick out of seeing his image on the NASDAQ tower in New York's Times Square, Friday, Sept. 14, 2012, while celebrating the opening of the brand's 4,000th global restaurant.  Diane Bondareff/AP ImageFullscreen John Schnatter, founder of Papa John's Pizza. - Oct. 2, 2017  Sam Upshaw Jr./The Courier Journal Fullscreen Louisville's interim AD talks with University of Louisville board of trustees member John Schnatter at the Cardinals game against Bellarmine. - Nov. 11, 2017  Scott Utterback/The Courier Journal Fullscreen In this file photo from 2016, John Schnatter placed a pie in the oven at the headquarters' kitchen. - Jan. 26, 2016.  Pat McDonogh/The Courier JournalFullscreen In this file photo, John Schnatter, founder of Papa John's Pizza, is seen making a pizza in the kitchen of his company's headquarters. - Jan. 26, 2016.  Pat McDonogh/The Courier JournalFullscreen Papa John's founder John Schnatter salutes another board member before the start of the Wednesday meeting to decide Tom Jurich's fate at the University of Louisville. - Oct. 18, 2017  Matt Stone/The Courier JournalFullscreen John Schnatter, left, CEO of Papa John's Pizza, arrives for a UofL for Board of Trustees meeting escorted by Buddy Dumeyer outside Grawemeyer Hall. - Oct. 2, 2017  Sam Upshaw Jr./The Courier JournalFullscreen John Schnatter, founder of Papa John's Pizza  The Courier Journal file photoFullscreen John Schnatter, founder of Papa John's Pizza. -June 19, 2017  Provided by Delta DentalFullscreen John Schnatter, board member at the University of Louisville Foundation, during the first meeting since an audit blasted the organization.  Matt Stone/The Courier JournalFullscreen Papa John's Pizza founder John Schnatter talks with other board members after the University of Louisville Wednesday. Schnatter did not speak during Wednesday's meeting. Previously he brought up concerns with the University of Louisivlle athletic department. April, 26, 2017.  Matt Stone/CJFullscreen John Schnatter speaks during a press conference at the Louisville Zoo on Thursday morning. Thanks to a $1 million gift from the John H. Schnatter Family Foundation, the zoo's Leadership Campaign exceeded it's goal of $10.4 million for a final raised amount of $11.44 million. -Feb.9, 2017  Michael Clevenger/The Courier JournalFullscreen John Schnatter looks over renderings of a new exhibit on Thursday morning at the Louisville Zoo with Zoo Director John Walczak. Thanks to a $1 million gift from the John H. Schnatter Family Foundation, the zoo's Leadership Campaign exceeded it's goal of $10.4 million for a final raised amount of $11.44 million. -Feb. 9, 2017  Michael Clevenger/The Courier JournalFullscreen John Schnatter speaks during a press conference at the Louisville Zoo on Thursday morning. Thanks to a $1 million gift from the John H. Schnatter Family Foundation, the zoo's Leadership Campaign exceeded it's goal of $10.4 million for a final raised amount of $11.44 million. -Feb. 9, 2017  Michael Clevenger/The Courier JournalFullscreen Papa John's founder John Schnatter laughs aloud during an interview with Alli Truttmann on Wednesday night at the Palace Theatre. 1/25/17  Marty Pearl/Special to the Courier JournalFullscreen Papa John��s founder John Schnatter, shown at an unrelated event, attended an employee��s funeral. -Aug. 27, 2007  David Harpe/Special to the Courier-JournalFullscreenInterested in this topic? You may also want to view these photo galleries:Replay1 of 302 of 303 of 304 of 305 of 306 of 307 of 308 of 309 of 3010 of 3011 of 3012 of 3013 of 3014 of 3015 of 3016 of 3017 of 3018 of 3019 of 3020 of 3021 of 3022 of 3023 of 3024 of 3025 of 3026 of 3027 of 3028 of 3029 of 3030 of 30AutoplayShow ThumbnailsShow CaptionsLast SlideNext Slide

Glaser is not representing Weinstein in charges of rape and criminal sexual�acts, for which he has pleaded not guilty. At�least 85 women have accused Weinstein of inappropriate to criminal behavior.�

In his letter, Schnatter said it was a mistake on his part to resign his chairmanship of the pizza empire he created and is now questioning why his company's board of directors didn't investigate his use of a racial slur before it moved�to oust him.�

��The board asked me to step down as chairman without apparently doing any investigation. I agreed, though today I believe it was a mistake to do so,���Schnatter wrote to the board of directors in a letter�Saturday. ��I will not allow either my good name or the good name of the company I founded and love to be unfairly tainted.��

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Schnatter resigned last week as chairman of the board of directors after he admitted to using a racial slur in a role-playing exercise with the pizza chain's marketing contractor. The fall out has been swift and enormous.�

He was forced off the board of trustees at the University of Louisville where the new president also made the decision last Friday to remove his name from the school's football stadium.�

Papa Johns International also�is removing his image from marketing materials.

The chain, which Schnatter founded in 1984 and took public less than a decade later, has kicked him out of the corporation's East Louisville offices and ordered him to stop talking with the media.�

Although he apologized for using the N-word during that May conference call, he's since been combative in interviews, insisting in an interview with WHAS radio host Terry Meiners last Friday that the marketing contract forced him in to using "that vocabulary" and leaked it to the media later.

The Wall Street Journal said that Schnatter says in his letter to the board that he was asked during the media training whether he is racist, and answered ��no ... I then said something on the order of, (KFC founder) Colonel (Harland) Sanders used the word ��N,�� (I actually used the word), that I would never use that word, and Papa John��s doesn��t use that word.���

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