Harvey Weinstein, the disgraced former Hollywood producer, who has been convicted of multiple sexual assault charges, has undergone emergency heart surgery in a New York hospital. Craig Rothfeld, Weinstein¡¯s prison consultant, said that the 72-year-old is recovering from emergency heart surgery at Bellevue Hospital but remains ¡°in a lot of pain.¡±
¡°He¡¯s in the ICU recovering from a heart procedure ¡ª that¡¯s all the updates we have,¡± Rothfeld told The New York Post.
Rothfeld said Weinstein had not been feeling well for several weeks and was worsening by the day.
Weinstein's lawyer, Arthur Aidala, said they requested that jail officials immediately move Weinstein to Bellevue "based on his complaints to us regarding chest pains."
Once considered one of the most powerful names in Hollywood, Weinstein's downfall started in 2017, when several female actors came forward accusing him of sexual assault, some even dating back to the 1970s. Weinstein has denied that he raped or sexually assaulted anyone.
The flurry of allegations gave rise to what became the #MeToo movement, which has since spread across the world.
He was sentenced to 49 years in jail on various charges of sexual assault, but in April this year, a judge overturned the New York rape convictions, for which he was sentenced to 23 years' imprisonment. However, Weinstein continued to be in jail due to another rape conviction, for which he was awarded 16 years' imprisonment.
This is not the first time Weinstein has been admitted to Bellevue Hospital since his rape convictions.
In July, he was hospitalised with COVID-19 and pneumonia in both lungs, his representatives said.
After his February 2020 conviction, Weinstein left court in an ambulance and detoured to Bellevue, complaining of chest pains and high blood pressure. He later had a stent inserted to unblock an artery.
After his sentencing a few weeks later, he returned to the hospital with more chest pains. He later tested positive for COVID-19 just days after being transferred to a state prison near Buffalo.
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