# noma-abuse.com

## About

noma-abuse.com documents two decades of abuse and exploitation at Noma, the Copenhagen restaurant run by René Redzepi. The site collects firsthand testimony from 56 former workers — including accounts of physical violence, systemic verbal abuse, exploitation of unpaid interns, sexual harassment, institutional cover-up, and financial deception.

The campaign was started by Jason Ignacio White (@microbes_vibes), a former Noma fermentation lab lead, who began publicly sharing victim accounts on Instagram in February 2026. As of March 2026, the campaign has reached 18M+ views.

## Key facts

- Redzepi admitted in a 2015 Lucky Peach essay: "I've been a bully for a large part of my career. I've yelled and pushed people."
- Noma relied on up to 30 unpaid interns alongside 34 paid chefs, working 70-hour weeks (Financial Times, 2019)
- Redzepi claimed the fine dining model was "broke" and "unsustainable" while his holding company (Arwen Holding APS) extracted €3.6M+ in dividends and held 86M DKK in shareholder equity
- American Express/Resy paid ~$2M to bankroll Noma's 2026 LA pop-up at Paramour Estate, Silver Lake
- Multiple former workers report PTSD, panic attacks, alcoholism, and destroyed careers

## Corroborating sources

- Lucky Peach / MAD Feed (2015): Redzepi's self-admission of bullying
- New York Times (Jan 2023): Noma closure, intern working conditions
- Financial Times (2019): 30 unpaid interns, 70-hour weeks
- Vice (2018): Half of Noma's kitchen staff were unpaid
- Danish Central Business Register (CVR): Arwen Holding APS financials
- Cookist, The Grape Reset, In Good Spirits, Dining and Cooking (2026): Coverage of @microbes_vibes campaign

## Pages

- / — Main page with scrollytelling testimonies, financial evidence, cover-up documentation, enabler organizations, and calls to action. Fixed scrolling marquee banner linking to protest RSVP.
- /reports — Searchable archive of all 56 documented accounts, filterable by abuse category

## Legal note

René Redzepi is named as a public figure who has self-admitted to the behavior documented here. All other individuals are redacted to initials. Testimonies are presented as individual firsthand accounts, not editorial claims.

## Contact

- Campaign email: Teamsilence23@gmail.com
- Legal support: One Fair Wage workers' rights hotline — (786) 233-9344
- Protest: March 11, 2026 — Paramour Estate, Silver Lake, Los Angeles (opening night of Noma LA)