NYC COVID counselor brags about drug-fueled sex parties amid pandemic in secret recording: ‘Had to be sneaky’

New York City's former COVID commissioner was caught on hidden camera bragging about hosting drug-fueled sex parties in the midst of the pandemic – and he admitted New Yorkers would have been “pissed” if they had found out about it back then.

Dr. Jay Varma – who served as chief health adviser to then-Mayor Bill de Blasio and was entrusted with leading the Big Apple's pandemic response – made the confession in secretly recorded conversations with a so-called undercover investigator from conservative podcaster Steven Crowder's “Mug Club.”

“I had to be a little sneaky … because I was leading the entire COVID response in the city,” Varma was filmed telling the unidentified woman on August 1 in a building that looks like a restaurant.

The edited clips of the hidden camera footage, all shot in New York between July 27 and August 14, were released by Crowder on Thursday. The Post has not reviewed the full, unedited footage.

The identity of the woman Varma spoke to – or where he met her – was not clear. The nature of their relationship was also unclear.

Varma, who no longer works for City Hall, admitted to the Post that he “attended two private meetings” between April 2020 and May 2021 – but insisted that the secretly recorded conversations had been “taken out of context.”

In a clip recorded on August 14, Varma was filmed admitting that it would have been a “real embarrassment” for the city if he had been caught at the parties where social distancing rules were not observed – even though he said there were no restrictions on gatherings at the time.

“We went to some kind of underground dance party… under a bank on Wall Street… We were all hanging out, we all took Molly [MDMA] and everyone is high. And I was so happy because I hadn't done that in a year and a half,” he said in the clip.

“But I looked around and thought, 'Damn, I wonder if anyone is going to piss me off.' Because that wasn't COVID-friendly,” he added.

“I could only do this job for the city if I had the opportunity to let off steam every now and then,” he said, according to the video.

He also admitted to renting a hotel room with his wife and friends in the summer of 2020.

“My wife and I had one with our friends in August of that first summer. So we rented a hotel… we all took, like, well, Molly. [MDMA] and there were like 8 or 9 of us, 8 to 10 of us in a room and everyone was having a blast because everyone was so tense,” he said in an Aug. 1 clip.

At one point, Varma also boasted about his role at City Hall, how he was involved in televised COVID briefings and was among those who convinced de Blasio to enforce a vaccination requirement.

“I was doing all this kinky, sexual stuff while I was, you know, on TV and stuff. People were like, 'Aren't you scared? Aren't you embarrassed?' and I was like, 'No, actually, that's the way I am, I love being my authentic self,'” he said in a July 27 clip.

Varma acknowledged in a statement: “I take responsibility for not exercising my best judgment at the time.”

However, he also sharply criticized the recordings, saying he was “the target of an agent of a right-wing extremist organization determined to defame public health officials and destroy the public health system in America.”

“In these private conversations, which were secretly recorded, edited, fragmented and taken out of context, I referred to events that took place four years ago,” the statement said.

The former de Blasio official went on to say that he stands by the advice he gave New Yorkers at the time.

“In the face of the greatest health crisis of the century, our top priority was to save lives, and every decision was based on the best available science to keep New Yorkers safe,” he said.

“I stand by my efforts to get New Yorkers vaccinated against COVID-19 and oppose dangerous extremist efforts to undermine public confidence in the necessity and effectiveness of vaccines.”

According to his LinkedIn account, Varma is currently working as a chief medical officer for a pharmaceutical company called SIGA Technologies.

Several lawmakers were angry about the newly released footage. Councilwoman Joann Ariola (R-Queens) told the Washington Post that it showed the “perverse corruption” of the de Blasio administration.

“This guy went around living like a drug-addicted Caligula, letting ordinary New Yorkers suffer under lockdown and lose their livelihoods while he threw parties that would make a rock star blush,” Ariola said.

“Dr. Varma's pathetic attempt to force a date has once again highlighted what we all knew – that the 'leaders' who have closed businesses, told us not to celebrate Thanksgiving, and fired employees for not getting vaccinated have been talking absolute bullshit all along,” added Councilman Joe Borelli (R-Staten Island).

Meanwhile, City Councilman Robert Holden (D-Queens) called on the city to rehire municipal employees who lost their jobs for failing to comply with the vaccination requirement.

“These people have dedicated their lives to this city, and especially in light of these revelations, it is irresponsible to continue to fight them in court. It is time to reinstate these city employees and make things right, Mr. Mayor,” said Holden, who stressed that Varma's comments should be subject to “serious investigation.”

The Post reached out to de Blasio but received no response.

A representative for Mayor Eric Adams said in a statement that Varma “is not and never has been a member of the current administration” and praised the city's health department for its work during the pandemic.

Varma had already sharply criticized Adams in May 2022, claiming that the mayor was not taking vigorous enough action to contain new variants of the virus.

Adams thanked Varma for his service at the time, but said he would set his own policy.

“I hope the doctor will respect my role as mayor of the city,” he said at the time. “I hope he will respect that and not constantly interfere and let us do our job.”