Using a word in a non-offensive manner isn’t a racial slur.
You don’t get to dictate thought control - much as your ego thinks you can.
Again, I never said it was used in a way that was a slur.
My view is that I would not recommend using that word in any context in a business meeting and that the marketing company had a right to end their relationship with Papa Johns.
If it is found that someone from the marketing company or from Papa Johns leaked the story, their employer has the right to fire them, and they have the right to keep them on board.