Harvey Weinstein Julia Nikhinson-Pool/Getty Images
Harvey Weinstein was hospitalized again and underwent heart surgery.
The disgraced media mogul, 72, was taken to Bellevue Hospital in New York on the evening of Sunday, September 8, and had emergency heart surgery the next day.
Weinstein’s representative Craig Rothfeld confirmed to Us Weekly on Monday, September 9, that Weinstein was “rushed” to the hospital from Rikers Island, where he is currently being detained, “due to several medical conditions.”
“We can confirm that Mr. Weinstein had a procedure and surgery on his heart today to remove fluid on his heart and lungs,” Rothfeld told Us Weekly. “He is out of surgery and in recovery. As we have extensively stated before, Mr. Weinstein suffers a plethora of significant health issues that need ongoing treatment. We are grateful to the executive team at the New York City Department of Correction and Rikers Island for acting swiftly in taking him to Bellevue Hospital. At this time we do not have any further details to share.”
Weinstein was admitted to Bellevue earlier this summer after contracting COVID-19 and pneumonia in July. Rothfeld told news outlets at the time that Weinstein was admitted to the hospital for “conditions that he is still afflicted with on a daily basis such as diabetes, high blood pressure, spinal stenosis, fluid on his heart and lungs, and various other conditions.”
Harvey Weinstein David Dee Delgado/Getty Images
Rothfeld also revealed that his client had also “tested positive for COVID and contracted double pneumonia in his lungs.”
Weinstein was sentenced to 23 years in prison after he was convicted of rape in 2020. However, his sentencing was overturned by the New York State Court of Appeals in April on the basis that the original trial judge had prejudiced Weinstein with improper rulings, which included allowing women to testify about the allegations that were not a part of the case.
“We conclude that the trial court erroneously admitted testimony of uncharged, alleged prior sexual acts against persons other than the complainants of the underlying crimes,” the court’s decision stated, according to the Associated Press. “The remedy for these egregious errors is a new trial.”
Weinstein is now being held at Rikers Island as he awaits retrial in Manhattan Criminal Court in November. Despite the conviction in New York being overturned, Weinstein remains imprisoned on other rape charges in Los Angeles. He was convicted of those crimes in 2022 and slapped with a 16-year prison sentence. (He was acquitted of one Los Angeles charge involving one of the women who testified in New York.)
He was scheduled to appear in court on Thursday, September 12, in New York.
If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).
