Celebrity chef René Redzepi resigns from iconic Danish restaurant Noma after abuse allegations

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — René Redzepi, the founder and celebrity chef at the iconic Danish restaurant Noma that won three Michelin stars and other international accolades for its innovative “New Nordic” cuisine, has stepped down following allegations of abuse and assault at the Copenhagen landmark.

Redzepi has been dogged for years by reports of mistreatment of his staff as well as his yearslong use of unpaid interns to staff the pricy restaurant, which was ranked first on the World’s 50 Best Restaurants List five times. But the criticism recently came to a head on social media, and an article in The New York Times detailed former employees' accounts of abuse just days ahead of the opening of a Noma pop-up in Los Angeles.

Sponsors have since pulled their funding for the Southern California residency, which opened on Wednesday to a small gathering of protesters and where a meal will cost $1,500. Redzepi announced his resignation on Instagram with a tearful video soon after.

“I have worked to be a better leader and Noma has taken big steps to transform the culture over many years,” he wrote in the post's caption on Thursday. “I recognize these changes do not repair the past. An apology is not enough; I take responsibility for my own actions.”

Jason Ignacio White, a former head of Noma’s fermentation lab, collected anonymous testimonies of alleged abuse at the restaurant and posted them to his Instagram page. The accounts, which range from verbal abuse to physical assault at the hands of Redzepi and his deputies, have gone viral.

“I got punched in the face during service there,” one unidentified person wrote to White.

Another said: “Noma destroyed my passion for the industry. I struggled with intense anxiety, bad enough to give me panic attacks in the middle of the night. The trauma, abuse and idea that nothing would ever change all led me to walk away from the career.”

Redzepi has publicly addressed his aggression over the last decade. In response to Saturday's New York Times article, which included interviews with 35 former employees who worked at Noma between 2009 and 2017, the chef apologized on Instagram and said he has worked to change his behavior.

He was knighted in 2016 to Denmark's Order of Dannebrog by then-Queen Margrethe II.

Noma, Redzepi and the Danish royal family's press department did not immediately return requests for comment on Thursday.

Kristoffer Dahy Ernst, editor-in-chief of Danish food magazine Gastro, said Redzepi had to step down for the restaurant to have a chance of survival.

“René Redzepi is the face of Noma, he is Noma,” Dahy Ernst told The Associated Press. “If you want to solve the huge problem that Noma has right now, you have to remove the source of the problem.”

Dahy Ernst said it is unclear whether Noma can continue without its visionary founder, who brought international acclaim to a Scandinavian country that can trace a change in its gastro-tourism before and after the restaurant's 2003 opening. With its dedication to hospitality, flawless execution and culture of foraging from the nearby land and sea, Noma made Copenhagen a top dining destination for foodies worldwide.

“We were very old-fashioned. We had open-faced sandwiches with rye bread, but we weren’t really that proud of our gastronomy,” Dahy Ernst said.

Nick Curtin, the American executive chef and owner of Copenhagen's Michelin-starred Alouette restaurant, said the culinary industry gives too much power to a single person at the top.

“It’s long overdue that we get rid of the notion that sacrifice, humiliation, pain (and) violence are the ways — the building blocks — for greatness,” he told the AP.

Copenhagen local Nicklas Keng said he doesn’t expect that an industrywide reckoning will follow. But he’s hopeful that even if Noma’s excellence fades, its talented alumni in Denmark will ensure that Copenhagen’s food scene stays on the map.

For Annie Nguyen, an American tourist visiting Copenhagen, Noma had long been on her list of places to check out. But the recent headlines have prompted a change of heart.

“I personally would not want to continue dining there with that kind of culture,” she said. “I feel it does kind of leave a bad taste.”

Dazio reported from Berlin.

Exterior of Noma in Copenhagen, Thursday, March 12, 2026. (Sebastian Elias Uth/Ritzau Scanpix via AP)

FILE - Danish chef René Redzepi, in London, April 29, 2013. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis, File)

A staff member polishes the glass doors outside a Noma restaurant in Copenhagen, Tuesday, May 1, 2012. (Keld Navntoft/Ritzau Scanpix via AP)

Noma's chef René Redzepi smells a citrus fruit in Copenhagen, Nov. 24, 2024. (Soeren Bidstrup/Ritzau Scanpix via AP)

Noma's chef René Redzepi prepares a vegetarian burger in a restaurant, in Copenhagen, Nov. 24, 2024. (Soeren Bidstrup/Ritzau Scanpix via AP)

Prosecutors brought three felony charges against Atlanta Falcons player James Pearce Jr. stemming from an incident on Feb. 7 that police referred to as a domestic dispute with WNBA player and ex-girlfriend Rickea Jackson, according to a court document filed Thursday.

The Florida State Attorney's office in Miami-Dade County filed charges of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, fleeing and eluding police and resisting an officer with violence. A fourth charge of stalking was brought as a misdemeanor.

An additional charge of aggravated battery of an officer was dropped.

Lawyers for Pearce and Jackson did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment Thursday. Pearce's attorney, Jacob Nunez, in February said his client “maintains his innocence and urges the public to understand that while allegations have the power to shape a narrative, that it is hardly the full, complete story.”

Falcons general manager Ian Cunningham addressed the case briefly with reporters in Georgia on Friday. “Obviously, we’re aware of the most recent articles and things that have come out regarding James Pearce,” Cunningham said. “Those are concerning, right, to say the least, but outside of that, I’ll just keep it just very similar to what we said at the combine. We’re not going to comment on an open legal matter here moving forward.”

According to the police account, Jackson told authorities she attempted to drive away from Pearce and was driving toward the Doral police station to seek help when Pearce “intentionally collided into the rear of her vehicle with his SUV” before police arrived.

Pearce allegedly refused an initial order from police to “get on the floor,” according to details of the arrest in an affidavit. The police account said Pearce then drove away and hit a police officer’s left knee with his vehicle “intentionally in an attempt to evade arrest.”

According to police, Pearce wrecked his vehicle and then continued in his attempt to elude police by running before being apprehended following a “short struggle.”

Jackson, in a petition for protection against Pearce filed in February, expressed fears for her safety that predated the incident for which he was arrested and charged.

“Due to his obsessive, insecure, violent and aggressive behavior, ending the relationship has been difficult and I am afraid for my life,” Jackson said in the petition filed in the 11th Judicial Circuit in Miami-Dade County. “James has threatened to kill me, James has threatened to harm me, James has threatened to injure me, James has threatened to place a bag over my head, and James has verbally and physically abused.”

Jackson in the petition said Pearce snatched her phone, pulled her hair and took her belongings, at which point she decided to end their relationship.

She described a pattern of harassing behavior leading up to Feb. 7, including Pearce offering her $75,000 to visit him and $200,000 to remain in a relationship with him, according to the petition. Jackson said she was driving when she noticed Pearce following her in his car and she said he “began driving his vehicle erratically, at high speeds chasing after me.”

Jackson said in the petition she began driving to the Doral Police Department because she feared Pearce would hurt her. She said Pearce repeatedly struck her vehicle with his before getting to the station.

Jackson, 24, is two years into her WNBA career. She said she and Pearce began dating when they were at the University of Tennessee together.

Pearce, 22, was the No. 26 pick in the NFL draft last year. He had 10 1/2 sacks and his 45 quarterback pressures set a Falcons rookie record.

AP Sports Writer Maura Carey contributed from Atlanta.

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

Mist BC forward Alanna Smith (8) defends Breeze BC wing Rickea Jackson (2) during the second half of a semifinal in an Unrivaled 3-on-3 basketball game, Monday, March 2, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)