The New York City weatherman who was fired after nude screenshots from an adult cam website were sent by an anonymous user to his bosses at work—as well as his own mother—described his humiliation in his first interview since the incident six months ago.
Talking to the WNYC’s Anna Sale on the Death, Sex & Money podcast, Erick Adame revealed he had been camming for years before his identity was eventually discovered, performing sex acts in front of the camera for strangers which he considered to be a private matter outside of his identity as a television presenter.
When contacted by The Daily Beast Wednesday night, Adame said he had “nothing to add from what I said on the podcast or in previous social media posts.”
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On the podcast, Adame described his camming as an “evolution” over the course of many years, beginning with an interest in exhibition and “showing off.”
“It makes me feel better about myself,” he said. “For years, dating all the way back to my teenage years, I had low self-esteem and was ashamed of who I am because I’m gay. And showing off, and getting that type of praise and being called sexy, I wanna see more—hearing that from someone on the other end made you feel so good.”
He eventually began having sex over Skype with acquaintances from college, and by his mid-twenties he was camming with strangers and performing live acts, including masturbation, as his star began to grow.
His behavior became more “risky” when he moved to New York in 2017, after he landed his dream gig as a weatherman on New York City’s Spectrum News NY1. He admitted that even on cam, he would reveal he was an employee of NY1.
He said he went “back and forth” on the question of whether to show his face, but ultimately decided to.
“It just wasn’t the same. It wasn’t as fun. I thought my face was handsome…if I’m looking for praise, this is one of my best attributes. You know how you have like the devil on your shoulder and the angel on your shoulder?” he said.
His last live cam session on Dec. 28, 2021, saw someone post a link publicly identifying Adame—and by that stage, the secret was out. Someone began reposting the images and Adame says he was eventually called into HR.
“No one knows, I didn’t tell a soul. And I’m panicking and doing everything I can to get it all taken down.”
“They’re graphic. Some of them are so humiliating now,” Adame said of the images.
Then, his mother and new boyfriend received letters in the mail with pictures from Adame’s webcam exploits.
“In the mail, like regular mail, with a note, with a little piece of typed out paper that says, ‘just want you to know what you're getting yourself into.’”
“I have so much anger toward that person, because I just don't understand why. Why would you want to upset someone by sending that, those images to someone's mother?”
Finally, more pictures were also sent to NY1—and Adame was eventually fired. He recalled his final goodbyes with coworkers before leaving the studio for good.
“I said that I was really upset and that I loved what I did. It was my little speech. I’m like, ‘I love you guys.’ I’ve said before, it was like a breakup. They dump you and you're begging for them not to leave you. That’s what it sort of felt like. And I got nothing.”
“I should mention, through all of this I’m going to see a therapist because I’m noticing, in my twenties, a correlation between anxiety, depression and going on webcam.”
“I think I made mistakes. I know that because I feel regret and it’s not regret as far as expressing my sexuality. That’s not the regret. Basically what it comes to is, as a news person, I live under different rules. Whatever you do, everyone sees, and you’re judged upon it and there’s just this different set of expectations. But I’ve learned a lesson. It’s just unfortunate it was too late.”
According to the podcast, police are investigating whether the situation amounts to “revenge porn.”
Adame has retained a lawyer, but it remains unseen if Erick is the victim of a crime, considering his camming sessions were public.
