After allegations emerged this week that René Redzepi had abused his staff at Noma, once considered the world’s best restaurant, sponsors on Tuesday announced they would end their support for the chef’s upcoming events in Los Angeles.
The New York Times reported that American Express and the hospitality company Blackbird have cut ties with Noma ahead of the Copenhagen restaurant’s four-month pop-up in LA, which was set to kick off this week.
The development came days after the newspaper detailed shocking allegations of psychological and physical abuse against Redzepi by staff at the fine dining eatery where he was the head chef and co-owner. For years, Redzepi allegedly berated employees and inflicted violence on them, according to the report, including punching them in the face and body and slamming them into walls.
In response to the allegations, Redzepi posted a statement online, writing:“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 apologized to those who have “suffered under my leadership, my bad judgment, or my anger”, and said he had “worked to change”, including therapy and finding “better ways to manage my anger”.
The world-renowned Noma announced in 2023 its plans to close its doors as a full-time restaurant and reinvent itself as a food laboratory and test kitchen, while continuing to hold pop-up events around the world. The LA pop-up, despite its $1,500 a ticket price tag, sold out in three minutes.
This week both Blackbird and American Express said they would end partnerships with Noma ahead of the LA pop-ups.
“René’s past practices, by his own admission, were unacceptable and abhorrent. We cannot lean on time elapsed and rehabilitation claims when these things resurface. Regardless of context, this is highly problematic behavior,” Ben Leventhal, the Blackbird CEO, told Eater Los Angeles.
His company purchased $100,000 in tickets to the events, according to the Times, and Leventhal said Blackbird would give customers refunds and donate proceeds from its ticket sales to advocacy groups for industry professionals and hourly workers.
American Express, meanwhile, had bought out six nights for its Platinum cardholders. According to the Times, customers who already purchased tickets via AmEx can request refunds.
Noma said in a statement last week, that the recent claims do not reflect its current workplace.
“Although the stories appear to date back many years, we take them seriously and are looking into them carefully,” the restaurant said in a post on social media.
“Since that time, we have improved the process to address concerns, We are continuing to do so with an independent audit that ensures we keep our standards high and our workplace safe.”
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