Harvey Weinstein faces new sexual assault charges after being rushed to hospital for heart surgery
Harvey Weinstein has been charged with more sex crimes, days after he was rushed to hospital for heart surgery.
The disgraced movie mogul, 72, is facing new charges ahead of his retrial in New York. However, the charges will remain under wraps until Weinstein is arraigned on the new charges on September 18.
Weinstein is recovering in a Manhattan hospital from emergency surgery to remove fluid from his heart and lungs. He did not attend Thursday’s hearing on the new charges.
That came after prosecutors reviewing Weinstein’s overturned rape conviction announced last week that they had begun presenting evidence on three additional allegations against Weinstein, dating back to the mid-2000s.
Harvey Weinstein has been charged with additional sex crimes, days after he was rushed to hospital for heart surgery
The alleged crimes in the new indictment allegedly include sexual assaults at the Tribeca Grand Hotel, now known as the Roxy Hotel, and at a residential building in Lower Manhattan between late 2005 and mid-2006.
The indictment also includes an alleged sexual assault at a Tribeca hotel in May 2016.
Because the indictment is confidential, it is not known whether the new charges relate to some or all of the additional allegations.
Earlier this year, Weinstein’s 2020 conviction for rape and sexual assault was overturned and he was ordered to face a new trial.
The case was thrown out after the Court of Appeals ruled that the judge had improperly allowed testimony against Weinstein based on allegations from other women who were not part of the trial.
Prosecutors have since sought to retry Weinstein on the 2020 charges, but the Associated Press reports it is unclear whether the new charges will be included in the new trial.
The disgraced movie mogul, 72, pictured during his final court appearance on August 19, 2024, where he appeared frail in a wheelchair
The new charges come after prosecutors in Britain announced last week that they would no longer pursue sexual assault charges against Weinstein.
He has been in prison in New York since his conviction, after becoming the biggest villain of the #MeToo movement in 2017, when women began to expose his behavior.
During Thursday’s hearing, which Weinstein missed, a judge ruled that the producer can remain at Bellevue Hospital due to his poor health rather than being returned to Rikers Island.
Weinstein, co-founder of the film and television production company Miramax, has long maintained that all sexual acts are consensual.
The charges against Weinstein come as no surprise, as Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has indicated for months that his office plans to take further action against him.
While the statute of limitations has now expired on some of the charges against the producer, prosecutors said at a July hearing that they are actively investigating allegations of rape that occurred in Manhattan within the time frame.
Weinstein has been in jail in New York since his conviction, but his poor health prompted a judge on Thursday to rule that he can remain in hospital.
The moves against Weinstein also appear to have been spurred by the renewed willingness of his alleged victims to come forward.
Prosecutors said some potential accusers who were unwilling to come forward during Weinstein’s first trial in New York were now willing to testify against him.
Among them is Jessica Mann, one of the women whose testimony helped get Weinstein’s previous conviction overturned, and she is reportedly willing to testify against him again.
Weinstein was also convicted of another rape in Los Angeles in 2022. Even if he is acquitted in his new trial, he will not be released.
His 16-year sentence in that case still stands, but his lawyers appealed in June, arguing he didn’t get a fair trial in Los Angeles. Weinstein remains in custody at New York’s Rikers Island jail and is currently in hospital awaiting a new trial.
