The disgraced former Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein has been hospitalized in New York City for a series of tests, his lawyer said.
Weinstein’s hospitalization comes after the New York court of appeals overturned his 2020 rape conviction on Thursday. According to the court’s ruling, the judge who oversaw the watershed case during the peak of the #MeToo era prejudiced Weinstein with “egregious” improper rulings and was mistaken in allowing women whose accusations were not part of the case to testify against him.
In a statement on Saturday, Weinstein’s lawyer Arthur Aidala said: “They examined him and sent him to Bellevue [hospital]. It seems like he needs a lot of help, physically. He’s got a lot of problems. He’s getting all kinds of tests. He’s somewhat of a train wreck health-wise,” the Associated Press reports.
Aidala added that he spoke to Weinstein on Friday afternoon as Weinstein was being transported from the upstate jail Mohawk correctional facility to New York City’s department of correction following the appeals court’s ruling. According to Aidala, Weinstein’s issues are physical and the former movie mogul is mentally “sharp as a tack” with “feet [that] are firmly planted on the ground”.
Aidala went on to say that Weinstein had been treated poorly in jail, with prison staff allegedly refusing to offer “a sip of water”, food and bathroom breaks to Weinstein. “He was not treated well … He’s a 72-year-old sickly man,” said Aidala, the Associated Press reports.
Weinstein’s defense team has repeatedly argued that Weinstein suffers from various health issues including cardiac issues, diabetes, sleep apnea and eye problems. In 2021, his lawyers said Weinstein had lost four teeth in prison.
On Thursday, the New York court of appeals vacated his conviction after concluding that a trial judge permitted jurors to see and hear too much evidence not directly related to the charges he faced. It also erased his 23-year prison sentence and ordered a retrial.
Prosecutors said they intend to retry him on charges that he forcibly performed oral sex on a TV and film production assistant in 2006 and raped an aspiring actor in 2013.
Weinstein remained in custody after the appeals ruling because he was convicted in Los Angeles in 2022 of another rape and was sentenced to 16 years in prison.
Thomas Mailey, a state corrections spokesperson, had no comment when Aidala’s remarks about Weinstein’s treatment were read to him over the phone.
Aidala said he was told that Bellevue doctors planned to run a lot of tests on Weinstein before he will be returned to the Rikers Island jail complex.
The lawyer said he is scheduled to meet with Weinstein on Monday. He added that he plans to tell a judge when Weinstein goes to court on Wednesday in Manhattan that a retrial should occur after Labor Day.
The overturning of Weinstein’s conviction earlier this week was swiftly met with outrage. Ashley Judd, an actor who was among the first people to go on record with her allegations against Weinstein, condemned the ruling, saying: “This is unfair to survivors. We still live in our truth.”
Meanwhile, Rosanna Arquette, another actor who was among the first people to share details of Weinstein’s sexual abuse, said: “Harvey was rightfully convicted. It’s unfortunate that the court has overturned his conviction. As a survivor, I am beyond disappointed.”
Rose McGowan, an actor who accused Weinstein of rape, said: “No matter what they overturn, they cannot take away who we are and what we know, what we’ve gone through and what we can achieve in this life. We are not victims. We are people that were injured by evil.”
Associated Press contributed to this report