Two major companies have reportedly pulled out of sponsoring a Los Angeles pop-up dinner series from the world-famous Copenhagen restaurant Noma, in the wake of a New York Times exposé accusing its celebrity chef, René Redzepi, of abusing staff.
American Express and Blackbird, a hospitality start-up, are no longer associated with the $1,500-per-night series of Noma dinners, which begins on Wednesday, according to the Times and Expedite, a restaurant news publication.
“René’s past practices, by his own admission, were unacceptable and abhorrent,” Blackbird founder Ben Leventhal told the paper. “We cannot lean on time elapsed and rehabilitation claims when these things resurface.”
American Express told Expedite it backed out of the dinner because of “disturbing information that has come to our attention.”
The companies said they would offer refunds and donate remaining money to organizations working on behalf of restaurant workers.
The Independent has contacted Noma for comment.
Allegations against Redzepi began surfacing over the last month on the Instagram account of former Noma chef Jason Ignacio White and the website noma-abuse.com.
Then, last week, the Times detailed the alleged abuses in a major exposé, which featured former Noma staff describing how the superstar chef had allegedly physically abused them in the kitchen, including punching and shoving cooks, jabbing them with utensils, and subjecting staff to public humiliations in front of colleagues.
The allegations were at odds with the restaurant’s progressive image. Noma has been named the best restaurant in the world and held three Michelin stars on the back of its pioneering approach to locally foraged, sustainable cooking.
Over the weekend, Redzepi apologized for what he said was “harmful” behavior that included “physical aggression.”
“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,” he wrote on Instagram.
The chef said he had moved away from managing regular daily dining service and sought therapy to deal with his anger issues.
Noma says it has improved its workplace conditions in recent years.
“We’re aware of the stories circulating online and want to be clear: These claims do not reflect the workplace Noma is today,” the restaurant said in a statement after the allegations dropped. “Although the stories appear to date back many years, we take them seriously and are looking into them carefully. Since that time, we have improved processes to address concerns. We are continuing to do so with an independent audit that ensures we keep our standards high and our workplace safe.”
