Disgraced former film producer Harvey Weinstein has been taken from prison to hospital for emergency heart surgery, a spokesperson for his lawyer said.
Weinstein is due in court this week where prosecutors had been presenting evidence to a New York grand jury as they work to secure a new indictment against him on sex crimes charges, ABC reported.
Weinstein, who has denied having any non-consensual sexual encounters with anyone, was found guilty on rape charges in February 2020. The New York Court of Appeals threw out the conviction in April, finding Weinstein did not get a fair trial because a judge improperly allowed testimony by accusers he was not formally charged with assaulting.
The 72-year-old was taken to the hospital from the Rikers Island jail in New York, where he is being held in custody, a spokesperson for his attorney Arthur Aidala told the PA news agency.
The former film mogul had been experiencing chest pains, according to US outlets.
Weinstein is serving a prison sentence following a rape and sexual misconduct conviction in Los Angeles related to an incident in 2013 where he appeared uninvited in a woman’s hotel room during a Los Angeles film festival.
He was sentenced to 16 years’ prison in February 2023.
Weinstein suffers from diabetes, high blood pressure, spinal stenosis, fluid on his heart and lungs, and had recently contracted Covid and double pneumonia, according to a statement by Weinstein representatives to ABC. – PA/Reuters