New York (AFP) – Disgraced American film producer Harvey Weinstein is facing new charges, US media reported Thursday, just days after he was rushed to hospital for emergency heart surgery. The new indictment of the 72-year-old Weinstein, who has been convicted of sex crimes in New York and California, was brought by a Manhattan grand jury, the New York Post and New York Times said.
Prosecutors announced the new charges, which are under seal, at a court hearing on Thursday before Judge Curtis Farber. Weinstein did not attend the hearing, and the judge said he will be arraigned on September 18 if his health allows. Weinstein was rushed to Bellevue Hospital on Monday from New York’s Rikers Island prison for emergency heart surgery. His spokesman Juda Engelmayer told AFP that Weinstein is “weak” but “out of danger.”
The New York Times quoted Weinstein’s lawyer, Arthur Aidala, as saying at Thursday’s hearing that his client “almost died.” Weinstein is serving a 16-year sentence after being convicted on rape charges in California. He was also convicted in New York in 2020 of the rape and sexual assault of actor Jessica Mann and of forcibly performing oral sex on a production assistant. He was sentenced to 23 years in prison in that case. An appeals court, however, overturned that conviction in April, and Weinstein is now awaiting a retrial.
The once-powerful film mogul has made court appearances in a wheelchair, looking frail and pale. In 2017, the allegations against Weinstein helped launch the #MeToo movement, a watershed moment for women fighting sexual misconduct. More than 80 women accused him of harassment, sexual assault, or rape, including prominent actors Angelina Jolie, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Ashley Judd. Weinstein claimed any sexual relations in question were consensual.
© 2024 AFP
