Weatherman fired after appearing on adult webcam site, he says. ‘I can’t take it back’
An Emmy-nominated former weatherman is apologizing to his audience after “secretly” appearing on an adult webcam website, an activity he says has resulted in his firing.
Spectrum News NY1, a television news channel headquartered in New York City, recently fired Erick Adame after the company discovered he recorded himself on the website while at his home, according to a social media statement shared Sept. 19 on his verified Instagram account.
Adame wrote he is sharing his truth instead of letting “others control the narrative of (his) life.”
“Despite being a public figure and being on television in the biggest market in the country in front of millions of people five days a week for more than a decade and a half, I secretly appeared on an adult webcam website,” Adame wrote in his statement.
“I can’t take it back, and I can’t change what I did,” the statement read in part.
Spectrum News NY1 declined a request for comment from McClatchy News. McClatchy News contacted Adame for further comment on Sept. 20 and was awaiting a response.
Adame worked as a meteorologist for Spectrum News since 2007, his online resume shows. He was nominated for Emmys for his morning newscast coverage of Hurricane Ida in 2022 and in 2021 for his team’s coverage of Tropical Storm Isaias.
On an unspecified adult website, Adame, who describes himself as openly gay, said he “acted out (his) compulsive behaviors, while at home, by performing on camera for other men” in consensual acts, according to his statement.
While Adame’s statement does not detail how Spectrum News discovered his webcam appearances, a New York State Supreme Court filing does.
An anonymous individual sent screenshots from a video he appeared in naked to his employer and his mother according to court documents. Adame is seeking the identities of whoever shared the screenshots in the case Erick Adame v. Unit 4 Media Ltd.
“Anonymous wrongfully disseminated the images to (Adame’s) employer and mother, with the intent of harassing, annoying, or alarming (Adame) and tortiously interfering with (Adame’s) employment relationship,” according to a petition seeking to have Unit 4 Media Ltd., which runs an online subscription website, identify the anonymous user.
Lawrence Walters, a lawyer representing Unit 4 Media Ltd., told McClatchy News in an emailed statement that “our client’s policy is to comply with lawfully issued subpoenas and to provide relevant user data when legally required.”
“Capturing and disseminating user content without consent violates our client’s Terms of Service and forum Rules which may result in a suspension or banning of the offending accounts.”
In Adame’s Instagram statement, he also apologized to his employers, family and friends for “any embarrassment or humiliation” he may have caused and added that he is getting the “professional help” he needs.
“As a public figure I recognize that I have certain responsibilities that come along with the privileges I enjoyed,” Adame wrote. “But, let me be clear about something: I don’t apologize for being openly gay or for being sex positive — those are gifts and I have no shame about them.”
“I had the job of my dreams and I lost it due to my own lapse in judgment,” Adame added.
The former meteorologist expressed his desire to return to television in the future, addressing nationwide news directors.
“Please judge me on the hundreds, thousands of hours of television that I am so proud of and that my employers have always commended me for, and not the couple of minutes of salacious video that is probably going to soon define me in our ‘click-bait’ culture,’” Adame wrote.
Adame’s full Instagram statement can be found below:
This story was originally published September 20, 2022 at 8:22 AM with the headline "Weatherman fired after appearing on adult webcam site, he says. ‘I can’t take it back’."
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