Harvey Weinstein, the imprisoned Hollywood movie mogul, had a successful emergency cardiac procedure on Monday morning at Bellevue Hospital in New York City, according to his attorney.
According to his publicist Juda Engelmayer and representative Craig Rothfeld, Weinstein complained of feeling unwell, having a cough, and gaining weight before being transferred from Rikers Island on Sunday night “due to severe medical conditions.”
The 72-year-old was in the ICU at the Manhattan hospital after undergoing heart surgery Monday morning to “alleviate the massive amount of fluid on his lung and heart.”
“We can confirm that Mr Weinstein had a procedure and surgery on his heart today,” his reps said. Rothfeld told NBC New York that Weinstein was conscious and talking as he recovered Monday evening, and that they aim to keep him in the hospital indefinitely through the trial to deal with his ailments.
While awaiting a new trial in Manhattan on allegations of rape and sexual assault, Weinstein is still being held in custody in New York.
Since his release from state prison in April, he has been admitted to and discharged from Bellevue Hospital on several occasions.
According to his lawyers, he was admitted to the hospital in July for treatment of a number of illnesses, including COVID-19 and pneumonia in both lungs.
Weinstein was found guilty in Los Angeles in 2022 after serving a 23-year sentence in New York. Weinstein has denied ever raping or sexually assaulting anyone.
The state’s highest court overturned his 2020 conviction in Manhattan in this spring, finding that the trial judge had unjustly permitted testimony against Weinstein based on unrelated charges.
