A French star chef has abruptly quit his luxury hotel job after a kitchen staffer was reportedly tied up naked and humiliated, the hotel chain said Thursday.
The Bayonne public prosecutor's office has opened a preliminary investigation into charges of sexual assault and violence, prosecutor Jerome Bourrier told Agence France-Presse.
Aurelien Largeau, 31, who has denied wrongdoing, has a coveted Michelin star to his name and ran the restaurant of the prestigious Hotel du Palais in Biarritz, southwestern France until his sudden departure last week.
A spokesperson for hotel owners Hyatt told AFP that the management had been informed of a "troubling incident," footage of which had been shared online.
She gave no details of what was on the images but regional daily Sud Ouest reported that they showed an initiation ritual in the hotel kitchen.
A kitchen hand was tied to a chair naked for hours with an apple in his mouth and a carrot in his anus with all the chefs — known as the kitchen brigade — looking on, including Largeau.