New York City Weatherman Fired After Webcam Nudes Leak
Erick Adame, NY1’s morning meteorologist, lost his job after naked screenshots were anonymously sent to his mom and bosses.
www.thedailybeast.com
Erick Adame, NY1’s morning meteorologist, lost his job after naked screenshots were anonymously sent to his mom and bosses.
Justin Rohrlich
ReporterKate Briquelet
Senior ReporterUpdated Sep. 20, 2022 10:50AM ET / Published Sep. 19, 2022 3:26PM ET
A TV weatherman in New York City was fired from his job after nude screenshots from an online video chat were sent by an anonymous user to his bosses at work as well as his own mother, court documents obtained by The Daily Beast show.
Erick Adame, a two-time Emmy nominee who served as a NY1 meteorologist for about four years until he recently disappeared from the air, is now petitioning a Manhattan judge to force the owners of the internet forum—named in court papers as Unit 4 Media, Ltd.—to identify the people who leaked the NSFW material and deep-sixed his career.
The website itself is not specified in Adame’s filing. A site called LPSG.com, however, advises users, “When you buy an LPSG membership it will appear on your bank statement as Unit 4 Media.” LPSG, which stands for “Large Penis Support Group,” describes itself as “the most amazing open-minded fun-spirited sexy adult community” on the internet.
The Daily Beast contacted Adame for comment on Monday morning. On Monday afternoon, he posted a message on Instagram, telling viewers and fans that he was “taking this opportunity to share my truth rather than let others control the narrative of my 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 cam website,” Adame continued. “On this site, I acted out my compulsive behaviors, while at home, by performing on camera for other men. 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.”
In an email, Adame, an anchor on NY1’s weekday morning show Mornings on 1, declined to comment and referred The Daily Beast to his lawyer, Jeremy Klausner. By midday Monday, Klausner had not responded to multiple emails and voicemails requesting comment.
A spokeswoman for Charter Communications, NY1’s parent company, declined to comment or provide the exact date of Adame’s termination.
“The weather can be unpredictable and and [sic] it’s my pleasure to make sure you’re prepared for whatever comes our way,” Adame says on his personal website. “I take pride in telling a weather story that is not just interesting, but easy to understand. My accuracy is only as good as my ability to communicate the message.”
On Monday, viewers began to notice Adame had gone missing without explanation.
“What’s happened to Erick Adame??” one mournful-seeming Twitter user asked.
Adame’s troubles can be traced back to late 2021, when he used Unit 4’s “video chat service,” and an anonymous user “wrongfully copied unclothed images” of him “by taking screenshots,” Monday’s petition states. The filing indicates the anonymous user had multiple accounts under the user names: Sonal Prehonn, Tommysize29, Funtimes99, and Landenboy227.
The user “wrongfully disseminated the images” to Adame’s employer and mother, “with the intent of harassing, annoying, or alarming” him and “tortiously interfering” with his job, the petition states. As a result, the filing adds, Adame was fired by his employer.
“Anonymous knew [Adame] had a reasonable expectation that the images would remain private,” the filing goes on. “Anonymous disseminated the images without [Adame’s] consent.”
Adame would like to pursue legal action against his anonymous tormentor “but is presently unable to do so without the information to identify” them, the petition says.
According to the filing, Unit 4 Media claimed it doesn’t keep records that would identify the user, including “user supplied information and Ip addresses.”
Lawrence Walters, an attorney for Unit 4 Media and LPSG, told The Daily Beast in an email: “Our client’s policy is to comply with lawfully issued subpoenas. 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.”
Adame is not the first TV weatherman to be axed over nude photos. In 2006, meteorologist Jamey Singleton was fired by Roanoke, Virginia, NBC affiliate WSLS-TV after a naked picture of him getting out of the shower appeared on someone else’s MySpace page.
In his statement, Adame apologized to his employers, colleagues, audience, family, and friends “for any embarrassment or humiliation I have caused you,” and said he’s seeking professional help. “As a public figure I recognize that I have certain responsibilities that come along with the privileges I enjoyed,” Adame continued. “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.”
The weatherman then directed his message to prospective employers: “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.”
“Think about your management of the newsroom—what have you overlooked, forgiven or ignored? In the end, all talent is fallible, full of human foibles, and your job is not made easier by our antics,” Adame added. “One thing I can promise is that I have learned a lesson and I will be an exemplary employee and the most informed and enthusiastic meteorologist you have ever seen.”
