Former Staffer Reveals Alleged Romance with Adams in Book and Bizarre AI Video

Photo: Instagram/@jasmineray_nyc

This week has been particularly eventful for Eric Adams.

On Sunday, the current mayor ended his troubled reelection campaign amid rumors of a potential new role with the Trump administration. Now, a former City Hall aide is preparing to release a self-published memoir detailing what she claims was a romantic involvement with Adams.

Jasmine Ray, who previously led the Mayor’s Office of Sports, Wellness, and Recreation, has announced her book, Political Humanity, will be available on Saturday. Her website describes it as a “memoir of love, legacy & New York City politics.” The cover features a woman’s hands on a man’s bald head, hinting at Adams, with the city skyline in the background. Ray reportedly stepped down from her position just before Adams declared his decision to exit the race.

The book’s description reads, “From the shadows of City Hall to the silence of closed-door meetings, Jasmine Ray reveals her untold role in the life of New York City’s mayor, Eric Adams. Their hidden relationship – marked by intimacy, sacrifice, and betrayal – mirrors the larger struggles of politics itself: the tension between personal humanity and public expectation.”

Kayla Mamelak, a spokesperson for the mayor, confirmed to the Daily News that Adams and Ray had dated about a decade ago but maintained a professional relationship while working together in city government. Adams, who is not married, has been in a long-term relationship with Tracey Collins, a former Department of Education employee. The couple attended the Met Gala in 2022 and own a residence in Fort Lee, New Jersey, which has been at the center of discussions about where the mayor actually resides.

Ray promoted her book with an unusual AI-generated video on Instagram. The clip dramatizes her relationship with Adams, featuring deep-fake versions of the pair in various scenarios, including dancing and lying in bed. The video is set to a dramatic theme song with a choir singing lines like “Love and power and truth comes through!” and “Standing tall while the walls fall!”

The video also touches on Adams’s legal troubles, depicting a fictional news report of his indictment and suggesting Ray stood by him during the ordeal. “She stayed silent while the world judged him,” the voice-over narrates.

Ray was appointed to head the newly established Mayor’s Office of Sports, Wellness, and Recreation in December 2022. Her tenure was not without controversy. Last year, NBC New York reported she received a conflict-of-interest waiver in 2022 to continue consulting for Cornerstone Day Care, where she was previously executive director. The Brooklyn day-care center had secured a $4.7 million contract to provide pre-K services to city children the year before, under Ray’s leadership.

Earlier this year, Gothamist reported that Ray had shown support on social media for the Trump administration’s executive order banning transgender athletes from women’s and girls’ sports, conflicting with the city’s stance on the issue. She later removed the post.