Michelin-star Noma restaurant chef and founder RESIGNS amid abuse allegations
A world-famous chef is leaving his post after being accused of abusing staff for more than a decade.
René Redzepi, founder of Danish restaurant Noma, announced his resignation on Wednesday, following a damning decision. New York Times The report revealed how he bullied and physically assaulted at least 30 employees between 2009 and 2017.
“Recent weeks have brought interest and important conversations about our restaurant, our industry, and my past leadership,” he said in a statement.
The restaurateur continued: ‘I have worked to become a better leader and Noma has made great strides to transform the culture over many years. I realize these changes do not repair the past.
‘Apology is not enough; ‘I take responsibility for my own actions.’
“After more than two decades of building and managing this restaurant, I have decided to step down and allow our extraordinary leaders to guide the restaurant to its next phase,” the celebrity chef said in a statement, adding that he also resigned from the board of directors of the nonprofit he founded in 2011.
The announcement comes as Noma is scheduled to launch a luxury residence in Los Angeles’ Silver Lake neighborhood; Redzepi said it will continue as planned despite protests over its opening.
‘Noma’s mission for the future is to continue exploring ideas, discovering new tastes and imagining what food could become decades from now,’ he concluded. ‘Noma has always been bigger than any one person. And the next step honors that belief.’
Celebrity chef René Redzepi announced on Wednesday that he will resign amid harassment allegations
Noma, which was originally based in Denmark and has ranked first on the World’s 50 Best Restaurants List five times, was scheduled to begin a residency in Los Angeles on Wednesday.
The master chef also shared a video on social media showing him announcing his resignation to his employees.
“I’m sorry that everyone is in this situation, I’m really sorry,” he said in the video he shared on Instagram.
‘I don’t think this represents our team,’ he continued. ‘I’m so proud of where we are as an organization, we’re in the belly of the beast here.
‘I’m going to pull away to make sure you feel 100 percent, okay?’ Redzepi asked rhetorically.
After telling staff it was their responsibility to continue Noma’s mission, Redzepi insisted: ‘I’m not shirking, I’m not shirking any responsibility for how I’m doing. ‘I know how I am.’
“We will get through this, we will get through this,” he said to his employees, whom he called his ‘family’.
‘But I have to distance myself because he’s so focused on me.’
He then asked his team to ‘please, please, please fight, get involved, draw strength from each other as a team, and know that I’m doing this to protect everyone here.’ he said.
Redzepi is accused of bullying and physically assaulting at least 30 employees between 2009 and 2017
Redzepi’s resignation came after protesters took to the streets to condemn his pop-up in Los Angeles
The celebrity chef concluded his message by saying that the culture at the restaurant had changed because employees claimed they were being harassed and that ‘this is not who we are’.
‘There are many sides to this, it is not one-sided,’ he said, and stated that he would now plan the ‘next phase’.
Redzepi’s resignation came after protesters took to the streets to condemn his pop-up in Los Angeles, spurred on by Jason Ignacio White, the former head of Noma’s fermentation lab.
‘For years, the culture surrounding René Redzepi and Noma has been celebrated without confronting the harm that many workers experience behind the scenes,’ he said.
White claimed that at the restaurant he ‘witnessed a culture that pushes people beyond their limits while expecting intimidation, unpaid labor and silence in return’.
Over the past month, he has been sharing derogatory photos about Noma on a public social media profile, along with accusations sent to him by former employees.
One of the most recent posts, on Feb. 27, showed a text message thread featuring an anonymous worker who said working at Noma was “the worst two weeks of my life.”
The worker claimed that Redzepi punched him in the stomach in 2012 for ‘not picking the grass correctly’.
This is breaking news and will be updated.
