Harvey Weinstein hospitalised for emergency heart surgery, spokesman says

Disgraced former movie producer Harvey Weinstein has been transferred from prison to hospital for emergency heart surgery, a spokesperson for his lawyer said.

Weinstein is due in court this week, where prosecutors presented evidence to a New York grand jury as they seek a new indictment against him on sex crimes charges, ABC reported.

Weinstein, who has denied having nonconsensual sex with anyone, was convicted of rape in February 2020. The New York Court of Appeals overturned the conviction in April, finding that Weinstein had not received a fair trial because a judge improperly allowed testimony from accusers he was not formally accused of assaulting.

The 72-year-old was taken to hospital from Rikers Island jail in New York, where he is being held, a spokesman for his lawyer Arthur Aidala told the PA news agency.

The former movie mogul was suffering from chest pains, according to US media.

Weinstein is serving a prison sentence following a rape and sexual misconduct conviction in Los Angeles related to a 2013 incident in which he appeared uninvited in a woman’s hotel room during a Los Angeles film festival.

He was sentenced to 16 years in prison in February 2023.

Weinstein suffers from diabetes, high blood pressure, spinal stenosis, fluid in his heart and lungs, and recently contracted Covid-19 and double pneumonia, according to a statement from Weinstein’s representatives to the ABC. – PA/Reuters