The disgraced Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein was rushed from a New York City jail to hospital for emergency heart surgery on Sunday night, his spokesperson said.
Criminal justice consultant Craig Rothfeld confirmed to The Independent that the 72-year-old had been taken from Rikers Island to Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan due to “a massive amount of fluid in his lungs”.
“He’s in recovery in the ICU, and we’re currently awaiting further details,” said Rothfeld.
The incident, which was first reported by ABC News, comes days before Weinstein was set to appear in court in New York City, where he will be retried over allegations of rape and sexual assault.
His previous conviction in New York was overturned in April by the state’s Court of Appeals due to “egregious errors” by the original trial judge.
However, a separate 16-year prison sentence for rape and sexual assault in Los Angeles, California remains in force.
The longtime Miramax and Weinstein Company boss was previously taken to hospital for Covid-19 and pneumonia in both lungs, as well as a “myriad of health conditions” including diabetes and high blood pressure.
Weinstein was first arrested in New York City in 2018 after more than 80 women accused him of rape or assault the previous year.
At the time, he was one of Hollywood’s most well-connected and powerful producers, known for a long string of Oscar-winning films including Pulp Fiction, Shakespeare in Love, and Gangs of New York.
Behind the scenes, however, alleged victims said that had used his power in the film industry to coerce them or attempt to coerce them into sexual acts, promising to advance their careers or threatening to ruin them.
The revelations in 2017 set off a global reckoning against high-profile abusers in Hollywood and beyond, kickstarting the #MeToo movement.
In 2020, Weinstein was found guilty in New York of raping and assaulting two women, and sentenced to 23 years in prison. However, the Court of Appeals found that the trial judge had erred by allowing prosecutors to call witnesses whose allegations were not related to the charges at hand.
Those witnesses included actress and model Tarale Wulff, who said Weinstein raped her in 2005, actress and producer Dawn Dunning who said he put his hand up her skirt in 2004 and Lauren Young, who said Weinstein masturbated in front of her and groped her in 2013.
The decision sparked outrage from Weinstein accusers such as Ashley Judd, the first actor to come forward publicly against him, who said the decision was “unfair to survivors.”
Weinstein maintains his innocence, and has repeatedly claimed that all his sexual activity was consensual.