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.

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis of the crisis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

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 [email protected] and follow him on Twitter at @skestenbaum

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you move on, I wanted to ask you to support the Forward’s award-winning journalism during our High Holiday Monthly Donor Drive.

This year, we have stood together in strength and sorrow. Our Forward team has worked around the clock to help you find clarity amid the chaos.

If you’ve turned to the Forward in the past 12 months to better understand the world around you, we hope you will support us with a gift now. Your support has a direct impact, giving us the resources we need to report from Israel and around the U.S., across college campuses, and wherever there is news of importance to American Jews.

Make a monthly or one-time gift and support Jewish journalism throughout 5785. The first six months of your monthly gift will be matched for twice the investment in independent Jewish journalism. 

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

$36 $500

$120 $180 Other amount