Harvey Weinstein has been rushed to hospital after receiving “alarming” blood test results, his lawyer said.
The disgraced film producer, 72, has previously announced that he has been diagnosed with leukemia.
Weinstein’s attorney Imran H Ansari told Deadline in a statement that his client had been taken to Bellevue Hospital.
“Harvey Weinstein, who has been suffering from a lack of adequate medical care and enduring deplorable and inhumane conditions on Rikers Island, has been transported to Bellevue Hospital for emergent treatment due to an alarming blood test result that requires immediate medical attention,” said Ansari.
“It is expected that he will remain there until his condition stabilizes. His deprivation of care is not only medical malpractice, but a violation of his constitutional rights.”
Less than a week ago, Weinstein filed a legal claim against New York City, alleging that he is receiving substandard medical treatment in unhygienic conditions while in custody at the notorious Rikers Island jail complex.
The longtime Miramax and Weinstein Company boss, whose outing as an abuser in 2017 kicked off the global #MeToo movement, is currently awaiting retrial in New York for charges of rape and sexual assault.
His previous conviction in New York was overturned in April due to “egregious errors” by the original trial judge, but a separate prison sentence for rape and sexual assault in California remains in force.
Weinstein was first arrested in New York City in 2018 after more than 80 women accused him of rape or assault the previous year.
At the time, he was one of Hollywood’s most well-connected and powerful producers, known for a long string of Oscar-winning films including Pulp Fiction, Shakespeare in Love, and Gangs of New York.
Behind the scenes, however, alleged victims said that had used his power in the film industry to coerce them or attempt to coerce them into sexual acts, promising to advance their careers or threatening to ruin them.
In 2020, Weinstein was found guilty in New York of raping and assaulting two women and sentenced to 23 years in prison. However, the Court of Appeals found that the trial judge had erred by allowing prosecutors to call witnesses whose allegations were not related to the charges at hand.
Those witnesses included actress and model Tarale Wulff, who said Weinstein raped her in 2005, actress and producer Dawn Dunning who said he put his hand up her skirt in 2004 and Lauren Young, who said Weinstein masturbated in front of her and groped her in 2013.
The decision sparked outrage from Weinstein accusers such as Ashley Judd, the first actor to come forward publicly against him, who said the decision was “unfair to survivors.”
Weinstein maintains his innocence and has repeatedly claimed that all his sexual activity was consensual.
