Harvey Weinstein to undergo emergency heart surgery, reps say | Crime News

The movie mogul’s hospitalization comes as he awaits a new trial after having a series of sex crime convictions overturned in New York.

Jailed Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein has undergone emergency heart surgery after being rushed to hospital from jail in New York.

Weinstein, 72, has been transferred from Rikers Island jail to Bellevue Hospital in New York City to undergo surgery to remove fluid from his heart and lungs, his representatives said Monday.

“We can confirm that Mr. Weinstein underwent a procedure and surgery on his heart today,” his prison consultant Craig Rothfeld and publicist Juda Engelmayer said in a statement.

Weinstein’s representatives have previously said the movie mogul suffers from a number of health problems, including diabetes, high blood pressure, spinal stenosis and fluid in his heart and lungs.

In July, his representatives said he had been hospitalized with COVID and pneumonia in both lungs.

Weinstein’s hospitalization comes after a New York appeals court in April threw out his 2020 convictions for rape and sexual assault, saying he did not receive a fair trial.

Jury selection for a new trial against the disgraced film producer is tentatively scheduled for November.

Weinstein was also sentenced to 16 years in prison in 2022 in a separate sex crimes case in Los Angeles.

His lawyers are seeking a new trial in the case in California after his convictions were overturned in New York.

In 2017, The New York Times and The New Yorker published detailed allegations of sexual abuse and harassment against Weinstein that had existed for decades, sparking the #MeToo movement against sexual abuse.

Weinstein, who has been accused of misconduct by more than 80 women, denies performing non-consensual sexual acts.