Health does condemn Harvey Weinstein. The former Hollywood producer, who inspired the birth of the Me Too movement, has been hospitalized at Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan due to his delicate state of health. This news comes shortly after the New York Court of Appeals overturned his 2020 rape conviction.
Arthur Aidala, his lawyer, has explained that Weinstein was taken to the hospital to undergo multiple tests due to his deteriorating state of health. “He physically needs a lot of help,” said Aidala, who has also called Weinstein a “disaster” in terms of health.
New York Department of Corrections spokesman Frank Dwyer has confirmed that Weinstein remains in custody while in the hospital. For his part, Juda Engelmayer, the mogul’s spokesperson, has said that Weinstein’s health problems worsened during his transfer from a medical center to New York, which is why he has required specialized medical care since then. Additionally, Weinstein has a complicated medical history: He suffers from several chronic illnesses, including heart problems and hypertension.
The hospitalization follows the court’s verdict that overturned Weinstein’s previous conviction, alleging errors in the previous trial, especially in the admission of testimony unrelated to the charges.
The ruling, of 4 votes in favor and 3 against, declared that this evidence could have unfairly influenced the jury, and has ordered a new trial. “A person cannot be tried based on uncharged criminal acts,” Judge Jenny Rivera wrote in the court’s majority decision.
Weinstein was initially convicted in New York in 2020 of first-degree criminal sexual assault and third-degree rape, receiving a 23-year sentence. However, he will remain in prison due to a subsequent conviction in Los Angeles in 2022, where he was sentenced to an additional 16 years for rape, although he was acquitted on charges related to one of the women who testified at his trial in NY.
