Harvey Weinstein Rushed to Hospital for Emergency Heart Surgery

Former film producer Harvey Weinstein appears in court in New York on July 19, 2024. Steven Hirsch/Pool via Reuters

Harvey Weinstein, who is currently awaiting a retrial on sexual crime charges, has been taken to a New York hospital for emergency cardiac treatment.

The once-influential movie producer, who has been in and out of court after his rape conviction in New York was overturned in April, underwent heart surgery on Sept. 9, according to his representatives.

“Mr. Weinstein was rushed to Bellevue Hospital last night due to several medical conditions,” representative Juda Engelmayer said in a statement to The Epoch Times. “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. 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.”

The 72-year-old Hollywood figure, who is appealing a separate conviction in California, has recently been hospitalized for various health issues.

In July, Weinstein tested positive for COVID-19 and contracted double pneumonia. He was also briefly hospitalized in April upon his return to New York City after the state’s highest court overturned his 2020 convictions on rape charges.

In a reversal of the landmark #MeToo case, the New York State Court of Appeals ruled 4–3 to throw out those convictions, after determining that the trial judge improperly allowed testimony against Weinstein based on allegations from individuals who weren’t part of the case.

In its majority opinion, the court said it was a series of “egregious errors” to allow several uncharged allegations to be brought up during Weinstein’s trial. The opinion further pointed out that the Manhattan district attorney unfairly brought forth “irrelevant, prejudicial, and untested” allegations of misconduct that helped portray Weinstein in a “highly prejudicial light.”

“The synergistic effect of these errors was not harmless,” the lengthy opinion read. “The threat of a cross-examination highlighting these untested allegations undermined [the] defendant’s right to testify. The remedy for these egregious errors is a new trial.”

While his retrial proceeds, Weinstein will remain imprisoned because in 2022, he received a 16-year sentence in Los Angeles, where a jury found him guilty of rape after allegations were brought by an anonymous woman.

Following the overturn of the New York guilty verdict, the woman is now the only accuser to obtain a criminal conviction against him.

California authorities have asked that Weinstein be brought back to the Golden State to start serving his sentence there in advance of his New York retrial, a request Weinstein’s legal team has fiercely opposed.

Weinstein has denied any wrongdoing in both cases.