Papa Johns Tells Nazis ‘Don’t Buy Our Pizza’

An illustration posted on the Daily Stormer of a pizza topped with a pepperoni swastika

By Sam Kestenbaum November 6, 2017

Papa Johns said they don’t want racists eating their pizzas, after a neo-Nazi website claimed on November 3 that the chain served the “official pizza” of the ‘alt-right.’”

“We condemn racism in all forms and any and all hate groups that support it,” the company said in a statement on November 6. “We do not want these individuals or groups to buy our pizza.”

The white nationalist “alt-right” has half-jokingly endorsed other companies in recent months — like New Balance — that they view as somehow aligned with their movement. The endorsements are best understood as part of a theatric provocation — “alt-right” accounts are celebrating the latest Papa Johns story as an example of how liberals are easily offended — and an easy way to get media coverage.

Last week, the Nazi-styled “alt-right” website Daily Stormer theatrically “endorsed” Papa Johns after the CEO blamed his company’s recent financial losses on the ongoing NFL national anthem protests. The site’s publisher, Andrew Anglin, is known for mounting online “troll storm” attacks against people he perceives to be his enemies.

Email Sam Kestenbaum at kestenbaum@forward.com and follow him on Twitter at @skestenbaum

Sam Kestenbaum is a contributing editor and former staff writer for the Forward. Before this, he worked for The New York Times and newsrooms in Sana, Ramallah and Beijing. Contact him at kestenbaum@forward.com and follow him on Twitter at @skestenbaum and on Instagram at @skestenbaum.

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