Disgraced Hollywood movie producer Harvey Weinstein has reportedly been diagnosed with cancer. NBC News was first to report Monday that Weinstein, 72, is undergoing treatment behind bars in Rikers Island in New York, where he is serving a 16-year prison sentence on rape charges, after being diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukemia, a type of bone marrow cancer.
Weinstein’s diagnosis was confirmed by two sources close to the disgraced movie mogul. Per the Mayo Clinic, chronic myeloid leukemia is an uncommon type of cancer of the bone marrow. In a statement to Variety, Weinstein’s spokesperson Juda Engelmayer said the mogul’s authorized legal healthcare representative in New York State, Craig Rothfeld, “expresses profound dismay at the speculation surrounding Mr. Weinstein’s medical condition.”
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“It is both troubling and unacceptable that such private and confidential health matters have become a subject of public discourse,” the statement added. “Out of respect for Mr. Weinstein’s privacy, we will offer no further comment.”
The reported diagnosis marks the latest in a string of health issues for Weinstein amid his incarceration. In September, Weinstein underwent emergency heart surgery at Bellevue Hospital after experiencing chest pains. Prior to that, in July, he was hospitalized for a “myriad of health conditions,” including COVID-19 and double pneumonia. At the time, his representatives revealed that he was also suffering from “diabetes, high blood pressure, spinal stenosis, fluid on his heart and lungs,” and other health conditions.
Weinstein is currently serving a 16-year prison sentence after he was convicted on sexual assault charges in Los Angeles in 2023. His legal team is working to appeal the ruling.
Weinstein, who became one of the most-accused figures of the #MeToo movement, was also sentenced to 23 years in prison after he was convicted on first-degree sexual assault and third-degree rape charges in New York in 2020. However, a New York appeals court overturned the verdict in April, ruling that the original judge had prejudiced Weinstein with improper rulings. At the time, his lawyer called the ruling “not just a victory for Mr. Weinstein, but for every criminal defendant in the state of New York, and we compliment the Court of Appeals for upholding the most basic principles that a criminal defendant should have in a trial.”
Just a few months later, on Sept. 12, a New York City grand jury indicted Weinstein on new charges of sexual assault. He appeared in court on Sept. 18 in a wheelchair to enter his not guilty plea on one count of criminal sexual act in the first degree.
