Disgraced Hollywood movie mogul Harvey Weinstein is in intensive care in hospital recovering from emergency heart surgery, his lawyer says.
The 72-year-old was taken from Rikers Island prison, where he is serving a sentence for rape, to Bellevue Hospital in New York earlier today.
He had been experiencing chest pains, according to US media outlets.
Weinstein is due in court on 12 September for a retrial hearing after his 2020 rape conviction in New York was thrown out in April.
The former film producer has remained in jail because he was convicted of another rape in Los Angeles in 2022, for which he was sentenced to 16 years in prison.
‘A plethora of significant health issues’
Following Weinstein’s hospitalisation, his lawyer Craig Rothfeld said: “Mr Weinstein was rushed to Bellevue Hospital last night due to several medical conditions.
“We can confirm that Mr Weinstein had a procedure and surgery on his heart today however cannot comment any further than that.
“As we have extensively stated before, Mr Weinstein suffers a plethora of significant health issues that need ongoing treatment.”
Weinstein was previously taken to hospital in July after testing positive for COVID-19 and contracting pneumonia in both of his lungs.
He had earlier had a 10-day stay at Bellevue Hospital, when his lawyer Arthur Aidala said he had “a lot of problems” and was “somewhat of a train wreck health-wise”.
Weinstein has been in prison since his 2020 conviction led to him being handed a 23-year prison sentence. The landmark case kickstarted the global #MeToo movement.
However, judges ruled the original hearing had been prejudiced by “egregious” improper rulings, including a decision to let women testify about allegations that were not part of the case, violating Weinstein’s right to a fair trial.
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Weinstein has denied that he raped or sexually assaulted anyone and is also appealing against his Los Angeles conviction.
Last week, prosecutors disclosed that they’ve begun taking steps to potentially charge him with up to three additional sex assaults.
They said they’ve started presenting evidence to a grand jury of up to three previously uncharged allegations against Weinstein – two sexual assaults in the mid-2000s and another sexual assault in 2016.
Meanwhile, British prosecutors said last week they were dropping two charges of indecent assault that were brought against Weinstein in 2022 because there was “no longer a realistic prospect of conviction”.