The architect of New York City’s coronavirus lockdowns has admitted breaking his own rules to secretly attend drug-fueled sex parties.
Former Covid czar Dr Jay Varma was caught on camera talking about getting high and going to underground raves that were “not Covid-friendly” at the height of the pandemic in 2020 and 2021.
He also described in detail how he secretly attended “deviant sexual” gatherings, hosted sex parties at his home and rented a hotel with friends where they got “naked” and took “molly,” a street name for MDMA or ecstasy.
He was secretly captured in a joust operation by Mug Club Undercover, an investigative organization led by right-wing commentator Steven Crowder.
Dr. Varma was former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio’s top Covid adviser, attending daily public briefings and advocating for restrictions such as school closures and vaccination mandates.
Dr. Jay Varma served as Mayor Bill de Blasio’s senior advisor on public health and Covid-19 in 2020 and 2021
Dr Varma was filmed in an undercover sting operation by Mug Club Undercover. He was captured in what appear to be secretly recorded videos in July and August 2024
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In the undercover footage, Dr. Varma appears to brag about how he led “the entire Covid response” for New York City and how he was behind pushing de Blasio’s vaccine mandate.
“I had to deal with it (the sex party) in secret… I was in charge of the entire Covid response for the city,” he told a woman identified off-camera only as a Mug Club journalist.
He continued: ‘I was doing all this deviant, sexual stuff when I was on TV… and people would say, “Aren’t you scared? Aren’t you ashamed?” And I was like, no, actually… I love being my authentic self.’
And the doctor later added, “The only way I could do this work for the city was if I could let off some steam every now and then.”
In a statement to DailyMail.com, Dr Varma said: ‘Sadly, I was targeted by an operative from a far-right organisation determined to smear public health officials and dismantle the public health care system in America.
‘This individual has been seriously discredited and has been banned by multiple media outlets for his homophobic insults and racist tirades.
‘In those private conversations that were secretly recorded, cut up, taken out of context and in which I referred to events that had taken place four years ago.
‘Between April 2020 and May 2021, I participated in two private meetings. I take responsibility for not exercising my best judgment at that time.’
The doctor’s statement continued: ‘Faced with the greatest public health crisis in a century, saving lives was our highest priority. Every decision made was based on the best available science to ensure the safety of New Yorkers.
“I stand by my efforts to vaccinate New Yorkers against COVID-19, and I reject dangerous extremist efforts to undermine public confidence in the necessity and effectiveness of vaccines.”
In a separate statement, a City Hall spokesperson told DailyMail.com: ‘Dr Varma is not and has never been a member of the current board.
“The City of Health has done everything it can to protect New Yorkers from COVID-19 and continues to protect New Yorkers and keep them safe under Mayor Adams’ leadership.”
Dr. Varma retired from his position in New York City government in 2021.
DailyMail.com also reached out to SIGA Technologies, where Dr. Varma is listed as Chief Medical Officer and Executive Vice President, but the company has not yet responded.
Dr. Varma appears to admit on secretly recorded video footage that he and his wife rented a hotel to meet with friends and use drugs
Dr. Varma appears to admit on secretly recorded video that he attended sex and polyamory parties with large groups of people during Covid
When asked by the MCU journalist what “sex parties were like during Covid,” Dr. Varma admitted he had never been to a “public” sex party.
However, he also says that he and his wife had one with their friends in August 2020.
The couple rented a hotel room and Dr Varma advised everyone present to take a Covid test and send him the results.
At that point in the pandemic, New York City was just beginning to reopen, but businesses were still required to limit capacity and indoor dining was prohibited.
Dr. Varma, who also worked on global public health for the CDC, said: “It was fun. We all took… Molly (ecstasy/MDMA) and we were… eight to ten people in a room and everybody was having a good time, because everybody was so cooped up, because everybody was stuck together and stuff like that.
“And sometimes it’s not so much about penetrative sexual things. Sometimes it’s just bodies being close together. Just being naked with friends.”
Later in the video, Dr. Varma recounts attending an underground dance party with 200 people under a bench in New York City in May or June 2021, where “everyone was high.”
He said: ‘And I was so happy because I hadn’t done that… in a year or so. But I looked around and thought, f***, I wonder if anyone will see me and be angry because this wasn’t Covid-friendly.’
When asked by the MCU journalist if he thinks New York City residents would have criticized him for “having sex parties during Covid,” Dr. Varma replied, “Yes. That would have been a big deal.”
“Yes. It would have been really embarrassing.”
New York City had one of the strictest lockdowns in the United States during the height of the pandemic, when the city became the country’s epicenter for infections and deaths.
Dr Varma appears to admit in secretly recorded video footage that he would be embarrassed if people found out he was not adhering to Covid lockdown guidelines
In the footage, Dr. Varma claimed he was the person who convinced then-New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio to implement mandatory Covid vaccinations
Schools, libraries, parks, stores and restaurants were closed. Millions of people were sent home to work remotely and children were educated online.
And in 2022, Dr. Varma criticized current Mayor Eric Adams for not doing enough to contain the spread of the virus as a new variant drove a surge in cases.
The undercover videos also appear to show Dr. Varma claiming responsibility for the vaccination mandates. The doctor claims he was the one who convinced then-Mayor de Blasio to enforce the vaccination mandates.
Dr. Varma said, “Well, I actually talked to him (de Blasio) about it before the vaccines were even available. I thought, you have to do it this way and so he came up with this metaphor that we’re going to climb this ladder. We’re going to start voluntarily and then we’re going to push it.”
He continued: ‘So the way we do it in public health is we make it very uncomfortable to not be vaccinated. With vaccines, it’s like you can’t get a job, you can’t go to a restaurant, kids can’t go to school. It’s like, “F***, I’m just going to get vaccinated.”
‘You ‘force’ people by making it really uncomfortable… The whole idea is that you build barriers so that people are like, ‘F*** this. I’m just going to do it because I’m tired of being harassed.”
In the nearly 18-minute video, Dr. Varma also appears to take responsibility for other Covid-era measures, such as social distancing.
Dr Varma said people asked him how he didn’t ‘go crazy during’ Covid lockdowns. He said: ‘I think the reason I didn’t is because I felt like I was in control. It was done to (the public, but), it was like I was the one making the decisions about what was happening.’