Harvey Weinstein rushed from Rikers to hospital for emergency heart surgery, attorney says
NEW YORK - Harvey Weinstein has been rushed from Rikers to Bellevue Hospital for emergency heart surgery, according to his attorney, Arthur Aidala.
Weinstein, 72, was taken to Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan from the Rikers Island jail complex late Sunday "due to severe medical conditions," his publicist Juda Engelmayer and prison consultant Craig Rothfeld said.
"We can confirm that Mr. Weinstein had a procedure and surgery on his heart today," they said, declining further comment on his condition.
News of Weinstein’s hospitalization was first reported by ABC News.
Weinstein has been in an out of Bellevue Hospital since returning to Rikers Island from state prison in April after an appeals court overturned his 2020 rape and sexual assault convictions and ordered a new trial.
In July, he was hospitalized for treatment for a variety of health problems including COVID-19 and pneumonia in both lungs, his representatives said.
The state’s Court of Appeals found that the judge in the 2020 trial unfairly allowed testimony from women whose claims against Weinstein weren’t part of the case.
Last week, prosecutors disclosed that they’ve begun taking steps to potentially charge him with up to three additional sex assaults.
NEW YORK, NY - FEBRUARY 24: Movie producer Harvey Weinstein (R) enters New York City Criminal Court on February 24, 2020 in New York City. Jury deliberations in the high-profile trial are believed to be nearing a close, with a verdict on Weinsteins n
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.
A vote on a potential new indictment is expected soon.
At the same time, British prosecutors said last week they were dropping two charges of indecent assault against Weinstein in 2022 because there was "no longer a realistic prospect of conviction.’’
Weinstein has denied that he raped or sexually assaulted anyone. He remains in custody in New York while awaiting a retrial in Manhattan that’s tentatively scheduled to begin Nov. 12. He is due back in court for a pretrial hearing Sept. 12.
Weinstein became the most prominent villain of the #MeToo movement, which took root in 2017 when women began to go public with accounts of his behavior.
At the original trial, Weinstein was convicted of forcibly performing oral sex on a TV and film production assistant in 2006 and rape in the third degree for an attack on an aspiring actor in 2013. Those allegations will be part of his retrial. Weinstein’s acquittals on charges of predatory sexual assault and first-degree rape still stand.
After the retrial, Weinstein is due to start serving a 16-year sentence in California for a separate rape conviction in Los Angeles, authorities said. Weinstein was convicted in Los Angeles in 2022.
Weinstein, the co-founder of Miramax and The Weinstein Company film studios, was once one of the most powerful people in Hollywood, producing such Oscar winners as "Pulp Fiction" and "Shakespeare in Love."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.