Famed chef René Redzepi steps down from Noma after abuse allegations: What he told staff
Noma founding chef René Redzepi announced his departure from the world-renowned Copenhagen restaurant this week, after an explosive report by the New York Times detailed allegations of abusive working conditions from dozens of former employees.
"After more than two decades of building and leading this restaurant, l've decided to step away and allow our extraordinary leaders to now guide the restaurant into its next chapter," Redzepi wrote in the caption of a video posted on his and Noma's Instagram accounts Wednesday.
Redzepi has been in hot water since Saturday, when the Times report broke days before the opening of his highly anticipated Los Angeles pop-up.
The report by the Times includes accounts from more than 35 of the chef's former employees, who alleged a history of physical and psychological abuse from 2009 to 2017.
"The recent weeks have brought attention and important conversations about our restaurant, industry, and my past leadership," Redzepi wrote on Instagram. "I have worked to be a better leader and Noma has taken big steps to transform the culture over many years. I recognize these changes do not repair the past. An apology is not enough; I take responsibility for my own actions."
Redzepi said he also resigned from the board of MAD, the Copenhagen-based nonprofit organization he founded in 2011. The nonprofit offers "educational courses, public events, and publications" intended to "help chefs and other professionals working in food lead the change that their industry -- and the planet -- need," according to its website.
The Danish chef, who co-founded the New Nordic dining destination and food innovation lab with Claus Meyer in 2003, has earned countless accolades in his tenure, including the top spot on The World's 50 Best Restaurants list five times, and three Michelin stars.
Redzepi was set to host a 16-week Southern California residency in Silver Lake starting Wednesday, following Noma's final dinner service earlier this year at the Denmark space. But after the firestorm of allegations included in the Times report, both of the event's major corporate sponsors -- American Express and Blackbird -- backed out, the Times reported Tuesday.
In Wednesday's video, Redzepi can be heard telling pop-up staff that he has made the decision to step away from the project "in order to make sure you guys are feeling 100% safe.
"We will get through this," he says, "but because it's so much focused on me, I have to remove myself."
Former Noma chefs and employees showed up at the Silver Lake location this week to protest the opening of the exclusive dining series, which costs $1,500 per person, ABC News Los Angeles station KTLA reported.
Noma LA 2026 runs through June 26 and is still accepting reservations on Tock for some prepaid parties.
Former chef and Noma director of fermentation Jason Ignacio White spoke at the protest, claiming he "watched people stay in an abusive environment because they had no other choice. They needed the paycheck. They wanted the reference. They feared blacklisting and deportation."
White, who worked with Redzepi for nearly five years according to KTLA, also runs an Instagram account and website, Noma Abuse, that claims to detail what appear to be anonymous alleged accounts and offers a submission platform, calling for anyone who has "witnessed or experienced abuse at Noma or any restaurant."
In a statement to the Times last week, Redzepi said, "Although I don't recognize all details in these stories, I can see enough of my past behavior reflected in them to understand that my actions were harmful to people who worked with me. To those who have suffered under my leadership, my bad judgment, or my anger, I am deeply sorry and I have worked to change."
The Times report is not the first time Redzepi's alleged abusive behavior has come under the spotlight.
In 2008, he was captured on camera screaming at cooks in the documentary "Noma at Boiling Point" -- an incident referenced in the Times report -- and he has since made several public apologies.
In a 2015 essay for MAD, Redzepi wrote that he had previously been a "beast" who bullied subordinates and questioned how to rectify kitchens with screaming and physical abuse. He said the turning point came when a sous chef called out his behavior after work one day, which prompted him to begin a "slow evolution."
"The pressure will always be there. There will always be competition and adrenaline. But how you handle yourself in those moments is crucial. We can't take the boiling points out of service, so what we need to do is find tools to handle them better," he wrote at the time.
Redzepi also expressed regret for his past behavior in a 2022 interview with the Times of London, in which he said he "never hit anyone," but "probably bumped into people."
Redzepi addressed the recent online backlash in the video posted Wednesday, saying his kitchen has "not been like this for a long time, I know that's not who we are."
"That's why it gives me so much motivation -- and that of course is something we need to explain to the world and tell the world that there are many sides to this, that it's not one side," he says in the video, saying he will be "going into planning the next phase."
He adds, "You'll see me around, but not in the way you've seen me around in the past 23 years. You guys are running the show now."
ABC News has reached out to Redzepi and Noma for comment.
