A fired meteorologist has spoke of his mental and financial struggles after footage of him masturbating on camera in front of strangers online leaked last year.
Erick Adame was sacked in September 2022 from Spectrum NY1 after an adult webcam site user took screenshots of him performing explicitly and leaked them.
His last live camming session was on December 28, 2021 – when someone posted a link publicly naming Adame.
The Emmy-nominated meteorologist told his followers on Friday about his personal struggles since the leak.
He said the toll was too hard to explain and said he would be taking a break from social media.
Emmy-nominated Erick Adame was sacked last year from Spectrum NY1 after an adult webcam site user took screenshots of him performing explicitly and leaked them
In a new post to his social media, Adame thanked those closest to him as he described mental and financial troubles
‘In December 2021, I was captured nude on a public adult webcam sit. It’s something I had done before but wasn’t caught in this way until then,’ he wrote in a post.
‘Months later someone would send these images to my mom, my bf and my work. I was fired in September 2022 and haven’t been able to find similar work, on or off camera.
‘The toll this has taken on me mentally and financially is hard to even begin to describe.
‘I’m still pushing forward and trying my hardest to stay positive but I need to take a break from social media.
‘Weather with Erick will continue for now. I’m hoping my time away will leave space to focus on mental health and hopefully get working again.
‘Thanks to everyone who has been so supportive during this very difficult time.’
Adame also shared a direct message someone on Instagram had sent him.
‘I saw your video, I’m sorry what happened to you, but you are so hot,’ the message said.
Adame asked the user: ‘Where did you see it so I can remove it’, to which the person responded: ‘Come on, you did it because you like it, don’t be a hypocrite.’
Sharing the brief exchange, Adame captured the post: ‘My life for the last two years has been conversations like this. This is happening today.’
Adame was nominated for two Emmys throughout his nearly 15-year career, about five of which he spent as a meteorologist at NY1 before he was fired
Alongside the post, Adame also shared an exchange with a Instagram user, that he said happened every day
In response to sharing the post to X, which has since been deleted, Adame was inundated with comments wishing him well.
One person said: ‘I’m sorry you are going through this. Do what is best for you. That never should have affected your career for a multitude of reasons.
‘You have a great pleasant & professional demeanor when you did weather on NY1. The next hire will only benefit by bringing you on their team.’
Another posted: ‘Stay strong and stay positive. Better days are ahead for sure.’
The weatherman had previously opened up about how the online sex acts made him ‘feel better about myself’ in his twenties.
He admitted that even on cam, he would reveal he was an employee of NY1 – and it was revealed he told up to 700 users his full name and address.
Breaking his silence, Adame told the Death, Sex & Money podcast: ‘It makes me feel better about myself.
Adame revealed his camming days started on Skype – where he would video call people he knew from college
Adame is seen on a beach in an Instagram post from 2018 before the scandal
‘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 said he debated about showing his face on camera while performing the sex acts, and he eventually ended up doing so.
Adame added: ‘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 camming days started on Skype – where he would video call people he knew from college. But as he got older, he was performing for strangers and became more ‘risky’ when he moved to New York in 2017.
Looking back at the leaked footage, he previously admitted: ‘They’re graphic. Some of them are so humiliating now.’
Leaked audio of one performance that was obtained first by The Desk revealed how he goaded bosses into watching him.
‘I think it’d be hot if my boss saw me. I’d love if my boss f****ed me on camera,’ he said in one performance.
He said he was desperate for sex, and invited men over to his home to sleep with him.
As he got older, he was performing for strangers and became more ‘risky’ when he moved to New York in 2017.
He complained on social media about how he’d been exposed, and later filed legal paperwork to compel the website into telling him who filmed him
Elsewhere in the performance, he asked viewers if they could ‘imagine’ their ‘weatherman’ behaving as he was.
In September, Adame wrote in a lengthy confessional post: ‘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.
‘On this site, I acted out my compulsive behaviors, while at home, by performing on camera for other men,’ he wrote.
‘It was 100% consensual on both of our parts. I wasn’t paid for this, and it was absurd of me to think I could keep this private. Nonetheless, my employer found out and I was suspended and then terminated.’
Adame was nominated for two Emmys throughout his nearly 15-year career, about five of which he spent as a meteorologist at NY1 before he was fired.