Disgraced and detained film producer Harvey Weinstein, 72, underwent emergency heart surgery and was reported to be recovering and “out of danger” on Tuesday.
Weinstein, currently held at Rikers Island prison in New York, was urgently taken to the hospital from Sunday to Monday for surgery.
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“He’s resting. He’s weak,” his spokesman Juda Engelmayer told AFP. “He’s out of danger at the moment.”
Weinstein is serving a 16-year sentence after being convicted on rape charges by a California court.
He had also been convicted by a New York court in 2020 of the rape and sexual assault of actor Jessica Mann and of forcibly performing oral sex on a production assistant. He was sentenced to 23 years in prison in that case.
In April, a shock reversal occurred when an appeals court overturned that conviction, which was one of the defining cases of the #MeToo movement.
He is now awaiting retrial in that case.
He might face new sexual assault charges before the retrial, and Weinstein was supposed to appear at a procedural hearing for that case on Thursday.
His lawyers have argued for a retrial in the California case, too.
In July, Arthur Aidala, the lawyer for Weinstein, indicated that his client’s condition had worsened while in prison.
The once-powerful film mogul has made court appearances in a wheelchair, looking frail and pale.
In 2017, the allegations against Weinstein helped launch the #MeToo movement, a watershed moment for women fighting sexual misconduct.
He has been accused by over 80 women of harassment, sexual assault, or rape, with allegations from well-known actresses such as Angelina Jolie, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Ashley Judd.
He has been accused by over 80 women of harassment, sexual assault, or rape, with allegations from well-known actresses such as Angelina Jolie, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Ashley Judd.
