René Redzepi is the founding chef of the acclaimed restaurant of Noma. And, based on the comments made by a number of former Noma employees, he was also an employer who also acted violently around (and sometimes to) his staff and cultivated an atmosphere where other Noma staffers in roles with authority abused their positions.
Those are some of the harrowing details that emerged in a New York Times investigation by Julia Moskin, who spoke with dozens of former Noma staff for her article. Moskin also cites the work of Jason Ignacio White, who previously headed the fermentation lab at Noma and has been collecting testimonies from his colleagues, both on his Instagram and on a dedicated website.
On the latter, White points to a 2015 interview with Redzepi in which Redzepi said, “I’ve yelled and pushed people.” The things Redzepi has been accused of go beyond that; Moskin’s reporting reveals instances of physical and psychological abuse, as well as other threats including deportation.
In the apology he recently posted on Instagram, Redzepi acknowledged some bad behavior while being vague about certain other actions. “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.
He also echoed some of the larger points of the people criticizing him, remembering that “I worked in kitchens where shouting, humiliation and fear were simply part of the culture.” To say that abusive behavior is cyclical isn’t exactly a groundbreaking observation in 2026 — and Redzepi also acknowledges that he was “becoming the kind of chef I had once promised myself I would never be.”
What Comes After a Michelin-Starred Restaurant? A Bar, of Course.
These chefs are following up one of the highest culinary achievements by exploring the beverage worldBut even if Redzepi is sincere in his regrets, there’s also the question of what sort of accountability he owes for his past actions. White has been critical of a Noma pop-up beginning in Los Angeles on March 11; in a Los Angeles Times article, Stephanie Breijo noted that White is working with the advocacy group One Fair Wage on a protest at Noma’s temporary location.
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