(CNN) John Schnatter, the founder and public face of Papa John’s pizza, apologized Wednesday for using the N-word on a conference call in May.
Forbes reported earlier that he used the racial slur while participating in a role-playing exercise designed to prevent public relations crises.
In a statement issued through the company, Schnatter said: “News reports attributing the use of inappropriate and hurtful language to me during a media training session regarding race are true. Regardless of the context, I apologize. Simply stated, racism has no place in our society.”