Harvey Weinstein has been released from hospital, five days after he was admitted for ‘dangerously high blood pressure’ last week.
Weinstein was rushed into care in New York last Wednesday in the hours following his sentencing to 23 years behind bars for rape and a criminal sex act.
The shamed producer, 67, was taken to Bellevue Hospital for monitoring but sources have told the New York Post he has since been transferred to Rikers Island.
Weinstein was sentenced to 20 years on the criminal sex act charge for forcibly performing oral sex on production assistant Mimi Haleyi in 2006. He was sentenced to three years for third degree rape for a 2013 attack on Jessica Mann.
Harvey Weinstein is seen leaving a Manhattan courthouse Wednesday afternoon after being sentenced to 23 years in prison for rape and sexual assault. He was later taken to hospital
New York correction bus reportedly carrying film producer Harvey Weinstein exits New York Criminal Court after Weinstein’s sentencing for sexual assault following his trial
Weinstein was taken to Bellevue Hospital where he will be kept overnight on Wednesday
The disgraced producer was initially brought to Rikers Island Prison after sentencing but was transferred to Bellevue Hospital.
‘Harvey was having chest pains and the Rikers staff decided for safety to send him back to Bellevue now. He will be evaluated and likely will stay overnight. We appreciate the care and concern of the Department of Corrections officers and staff,’ his spokesperson Juda Engelmayer said last week.
A spokesman had said he had suffered a heart attack and sources claimed he underwent an emergency angioplasty, a procedure to open clogged arteries.
But they later rowed back on that diagnosis, instead confirming he was suffering from high blood pressure, The New York Times reported. At the time, lawyers, Arthur Aidala, said he was in good spirits.
He previously spent multiple days in the hospital after his conviction last month with different ailments. Weinstein’s attorney Donna Rotunno has suggested that he will now die in prison, adding that he ‘won’t see the light of day’ after his sentencing.
Once one of Hollywood’s most influential producers, Weinstein had faced the possibility of a maximum sentence of 29 years in prison.
Weinstein, who is in poor health, will not be eligible for parole for 20 years.
His defense team slammed the punishment as ‘obscene’ and already vowed to appeal.
Weinstein’s defense attorney Donna Rotunno criticized the judge and jury outside court, saying the trial was totally unfair.
Rotunno, who said they would be appealing by July, said the sentence was ‘too harsh’.
Defense attorney Donna Rotunno talks to the press after Harvey Weinstein’s sentencing
Harvey Weinstein sits in a wheelchair during the sentencing following his conviction on sexual assault and rape charges in the Manhattan on Wednesday. He was later taken to hospital
Judge James Burke sentenced Weinstein to 20 years on a criminal sex act charge for forcibly performing oral sex on production assistant Mimi Haley. Weinstein, center, faces victims seated in the front row as he makes his sentencing statement in court Wednesday
Former Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein arrives to New York State Supreme Court in February. He was sentenced to 23 years today but taken to Bellevue Hospital with chest pains. Throughout the trial, he used a walker because of back injuries caused by car crash last year
Asked about the impact of the #MeToo movement, Rotunno said: ‘This says nothing to me about the #MeToo movement other than the judge felt some type of pressure.’
Speaking on Bill Hemmer Reports on Fox News on Wednesday evening, Rotunno added that Weinstein ‘won’t see the light of day’ and is likely to die in prison.
‘I think the number is too large,’ Rotunno told Hemmer.
‘I think it’s too large for the evidence that we heard and I think it’s too large for the charges that the jury found him guilty of.’
Last Wednesday, prosecutors in Los Angeles also announced that they had started the extradition process to bring Harvey Weinstein to California, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office said.
Prosecutors in Los Angeles filed sexual assault charges against Weinstein in January and have now begun the process of extraditing him from New York to their jurisdiction.
A LADA spokesman said: ‘The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office has begun the process of extraditing defendant Weinstein to California to face the sexual assault charges that were filed in January.
‘No arraignment date has been set. Once a date has been set, our office will notify the public.’
Weinstein was charged with one felony count each of forcible rape, forcible oral copulation, sexual penetration by use of force and sexual battery by restraint.
His attorney Rotunno claimed she can’t see ‘how much California really matters’ given the 23-year sentence Weinstein received Wednesday and his diminishing health.
Weinstein used a walker throughout his trial and arrived at the courthouse Wednesday in wheelchair because of back problems from a car crash last summer.
He has a condition that requires shots in his eyes and last week had a stent placed to unblock an artery.
Tarale Wulff speaks to the media outside the courthouse after movie mogul Harvey Weinstein was sentenced to 23 years in prison. Tarale Wulff testified that Weinstein raped her at his New York City apartment after luring her there in 2005 with promises of an audition for a film role
Tarale Wulff, center, and Miriam Hailey, right, leave the courtroom following the sentencing of movie producer Harvey Weinstein on Wednesday
‘I think it becomes ceremonial obviously,’ she said.
‘If we are successful on appeal, it may make a bigger difference. But with numbers so large and Harvey’s health, I don’t know how he leaves [prison in New York].
‘Even if at this juncture if they offered him a sentence that was concurrent, again I think with the number that has been handed down to him today, he won’t see the light of day especially given his health,’ Rotunno continued.
‘So I don’t even know if that’s a practical or necessary conversation to have.’
After sentencing, Weinstein was immediately placed under the custody of the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision. He was to be transferred from the city’s jail system to the state prison system but has now returned to hospital.
Weinstein did not apologize to his victims but said he felt remorse for the men and women in the #MeToo fight before he was sentenced to 23 years in prison for sex crimes in a landmark case.
Judge James Burke, who oversaw his trial, ordered Weinstein to serve the sentences consecutively and sentenced him to five years post release supervision for each charge.
‘Although this is a first conviction, this is not a first offense,’ the judge said before revealing the prison sentence. Weinstein maintained a blank face and did not visibly react.
Weinstein, who still faces separate sex crimes charges in Los Angeles, was wheeled out of the court in his wheelchair immediately after and taken to the maximum security Downstate Correctional Facility in Fishkill, New York, before being brought to Bellevue Hospital with chest pains.
After two of his accusers confronted him in court with their victim impact statements, Weinstein broke his courtroom silence to say he felt ‘remorse for this situation’ but said he was perplexed by the case and the #MeToo climate in which it unfolded.
He offered no apology to his victims.
‘We may have different truths, but I have remorse… For all of you and for all the men and women going through this crisis right now in this country,’ Weinstein said, adding he was worried about ‘thousands of men’ being denied due process in the #MeToo era.
‘I’m totally confused. I think men are confused about these issues,’ he said in a calm but creaking voice, adding that he had fond memories of his accusers and believed he had a ‘serious friendship’ with both Mann and Haleyi.
‘I can’t stop looking at Jessica and Mimi and hoping something maybe from our old relationship could emerge,’ he said.
Looking back during the trial at emails he exchanged with his accusers, he said he thought they had a good friendship.
‘I’m not going to say these aren’t great people. I had wonderful times with these people,’ he said.
Weinstein had begged for mercy prior to his sentencing, telling the court he had been through ‘hell on earth’ and was ‘really trying to be a better person.’
He noted that he hadn’t seen his three adult children since the allegations publicly surfaced and that he may never see his two youngest children again.
Weinstein acknowledged going to ‘extraordinary lengths’ to hide the affairs he had from his two ex-wives, Eve Chilton and Georgina Chapman.
‘They had nothing to do with any of it. I was unfaithful to both and I just can’t tell you how bad I feel from that,’ he said.
At one point, Weinstein started talking about how he had raised millions of dollars for New York City after Hurricane Sandy and September 11.
Once one of Hollywood’s most influential producers, Weinstein had faced the possibility of a maximum sentence of 29 years in prison.
Weinstein’s defense attorney Donna Rotunno slammed the judge and jury outside court, saying the trial was totally unfair and that he ‘really never had a fair shake from day one.’
‘We were looking for fairness, and we didn’t get it,’ Rotunno said.
Rotunno, who said they would be appealing by July, said the sentence was ‘too harsh’.
Asked about the impact of the #MeToo movement, Rotunno said: ‘This says nothing to me about the #MeToo movement other than the judge felt some type of pressure.’
Weinstein was sentenced a week shy of his 68th birthday, and his lawyers argued that a lengthy prison term would, in effect, be a life sentence.
Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance said afterward that the judge ‘sent a message today that this type behavior is something that any potential offender is going to have to consider.
‘The judge took it seriously, which is exactly how we think he should have. And we’re grateful.’
Appearing before the media outside court, attorney Gloria Allred, who represented three of the women who testified at Weinstein’s trial, waved a piece of paper saying, ‘This is what justice looks like, 20 + 3 years.’
Mann and Haleyi, who delivered victim impact statements on Wednesday, were joined in court by four of Weinstein’s other accusers: Annabella Sciorra, Tarale Wulff, Dawn Dunning and Lauren Marie Young.
All six women testified during Weinstein’s high-profile trial last month but only Mann and Haleyi were allowed to address the court.