Harvey Weinstein is hospitalized for emergency heart surgery

Harvey Weinstein, the disgraced Hollywood mogul who has been held at New York's Rikers Island prison complex since April, was admitted to Bellevue Hospital on Sunday evening for emergency heart surgery, his lawyer said.

According to Weinstein's lawyer Arthur Aidala, 72-year-old Weinstein contacted his prison counselor Craig Rothfeld several times over the weekend to tell him he was not feeling well.

“This guy is going to die on your watch if you don't do something,” Aidala and Rothfeld said in emails to officials at Rikers and Bellevue before Weinstein was hospitalized Sunday night.

Mr. Weinstein underwent surgery Monday morning and is currently recovering in intensive care, Mr. Rothfeld said Monday afternoon. “Mr. Weinstein suffers from a variety of serious health issues that require ongoing treatment,” he said.

He complained of coughing and weight gain, Rothfeld said. The surgery helped “relieve the enormous amount of fluid in his lungs and heart.”

Mr. Rothfeld added that Mr. Weinstein called him after the surgery. “He is grateful to be alive,” he said.

The hospitalization, first reported by ABC News, came months after a court overturned Mr. Weinstein's 2020 conviction for sex crimes in New York and after a Manhattan judge set Nov. 12 as a tentative date to begin jury selection in a new sexual assault case. Mr. Weinstein has denied all allegations.

Mr Weinstein, who was brought to the courtroom in a wheelchair in July, is scheduled to return to court later this month. He had already been hospitalized in Bellevue in July for a series of health problems, including Covid-19 and pneumonia in both lungs, The Associated Press reported.

Mr. Weinstein was charged with rape and sexual assault in Manhattan in 2018. Dozens of women made allegations against him, and six women testified in court that he had sexually assaulted them; he was only charged in connection with two women. He was found guilty of raping an aspiring actress, Jessica Mann, and assaulting a television production assistant, Miriam Haley, and sentenced to 23 years in prison.

But in April, the Court of Appeals, New York State's highest court, overturned the verdict by a 4-3 majority, arguing that the trial had not been fair because witnesses whose allegations were unrelated to the indictment had been allowed to testify.

The New York case was seen as a turning point for the #MeToo movement, and many saw the conviction as proof that even powerful men can be held accountable for sexual misconduct. The appeals court's ruling sparked shock and outrage, even among the judges on the panel who dissented.

“The majority finds that fundamental misconceptions are evident regarding sexual violence committed by men who know and exert great influence over the women they victimize,” wrote Judge Madeline Singas.

Mr. Weinstein was also sentenced to 16 years in prison in another sex crimes case in Los Angeles.