Indian-origin health adviser brags about drug-fuelled sex parties in viral video: ‘Everyone was high’ | Trends

Dr. Jay Varma has been fired from his position as executive vice president and chief medical officer at pharmaceutical company SIGA Technologies. News of his firing came after podcaster Steven Crowder shared hidden camera footage of Dr. Varma bragging about attending sex parties during the Covid pandemic.

From April 2020 to May 2021, Varma served as chief health adviser to New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio. He frequently attended the mayor's press conferences and helped shape the city's COVID-19 response, including promoting mask use, regular testing and vaccinations.

What he said on hidden camera

In a conversation with an unnamed woman, he boasted about attending sex parties at the height of the pandemic and even admitted that it would be “really embarrassing” if this information came to light.

“We went to some underground dance parties… and we all loved it. We all took Molly [MDMA]“Everyone was high,” Dr. Varma can be heard saying in the leaked video.

Laughing, the doctor admitted that the parties were not exactly “Covid-friendly” and claimed that he could only cope with his stressful job if he could let off steam in this way.

“I was in charge of all the Covid measures in the city,” he said, adding that he had rented a hotel to host sex parties with friends.

“I was doing all this kinky, sexual stuff while I was on TV, and people were like, 'Aren't you scared? Aren't you embarrassed?'” he said at one point in the edited recording. “And I was like, no, I really like being my authentic self.”

Varma also acknowledged that his actions would have had a devastating impact on the city's efforts if they had been discovered at the time.

The former health adviser of Indian origin declined to comment on his dismissal on Tuesday, but confirmed the authenticity of the video in a statement released by a spokesman.

“I take responsibility for not exercising my best judgment at the time,” he wrote, adding that the recordings were private conversations that had been “secretly recorded, edited, fragmented and taken out of context.”

(With inputs from AP)