HARVEY Weinstein has been diagnosed with cancer.
The shamed Hollywood producer is battling the illness as he awaits a retrial – months after his 2020 rape conviction was overturned.
Harvey Weinstein has been diagnosed with cancerReuters
AFPWeinstein has been in frail health in recent years. Pictured: Weinstein using a walker in 2020[/caption]
Weinstein has been diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukemia, as reported by NBC News.
Chronic myeloid leukemia is a type of bone marrow cancer, and around one person in every 526 will get the illness in their lifetime in the US, according to the American Cancer Society.
His team has slammed the speculation about his health.
“It is both troubling and unacceptable that such private and confidential health matters have become a subject of public discourse,” Craig Rothfeld, Weinstein’s prison consultant, told CNN.
“Out of respect for Mr Weinstein’s privacy, we will offer no further comment,” he said.
Disgraced Weinstein’s diagnosis comes just weeks after the 72-year-old underwent emergency heart surgery.
He received treatment after testing positive for Covid and contracting double pneumonia in his lungs.
Weinstein’s team said he suffered from a plethora of significant health conditions.
A date for Weinstein’s retrial on rape and sexual assault charges has been set for November 12.
It remains unknown if his cancer diagnosis will impact the timetable for his trial.
Weinstein was hit with a fresh indictment in September and is set to be retried on sex charges in New York.
He pled not guilty after being arraigned.
Prosecutors told how Weinstein was never charged for three alleged assaults mentioned during the 2020 trial.
They claimed that the alleged attacks took place in Manhattan hotels during the mid-2000s.
But Weinstein’s defense has hit back, saying prosecutors just want to add the new charges to their original case.
Lawyer Arthur Aidala said his team will not be ready for the trial.
A court of appeals overturned his 2020 conviction in the spring after claiming he didn’t receive a fair trial.
Weinstein had been serving a 23-year prison sentence when his conviction was overturned.
How Harvey Weinstein sparked the #MeToo movement
In October 2017, The New York Times published a bombshell article where numerous actresses alleged abuse at the hands of Harvey Weinstein.
Soon after, the actress Alyssa Milano asked women who have been sexually assaulted or harassed to share the words “Me Too” on social media.
The request quickly became a movement – with actresses like Gwyneth Paltrow, Jennifer Lawrence, and Uma Thurman all sharing their harrowing stories.
It was later revealed that “Me Too” was first used by activity Tarana Burke in 2006 to describe her sexual assault.
The media firestorm led to many media executives losing their positions, alongside backlash over whether the accusations were being properly investigated.
Weinstein remained at the center of it all and was one of the few who was hit with criminal charges.
A top executive who produced films like Pulp Fiction, Shakespeare in Love, and The Lord of the Rings, activist felt he was the perfect representation of how power and influence could be used for evil.
It’s expected that film producer Miriam “Mimi” Haley will be among those taking the stand when Weinstein’s retrial kicks off.
Weinstein remains behind bars after his rape conviction in Los Angeles.
In December 2022, he was found guilty of rape and sexual assault dating back to attacks that happened at a Los Angeles film festival in 2013.
At the time, Weinstein’s spokesperson Juda Engelmayer said the film producer was “obviously disappointed” in the verdict.
Meanwhile, in the UK, Weinstein will not face indecent assault charges after an investigation was dropped.
The probe, dropped in September, dated back to an allegation that Weinstein assaulted a woman between July 31 and August 31, 1996.
Harvey Weinstein Trial Timeline
October 2017: The New York Times reports the film mogul, whose Miramax film company won its first Oscar in 1997 for The English Patient, has reached legal settlements with eight women who accused him of sexual harassment spanning over 30 years. He is fired from his company, his wife leaves him, and the #Metoo movement is born.
May 2018: Weinstein was arrested on charges of rape and a criminal sex act involving alleged assaults of two women.
June 2018: He pleads not guilty to both charges and a third charge. One of them is eventually dropped.
December 2019: Weinstein agrees to a $25 million settlement with a number of women who accused him of wrongdoing.
February 2020: He is sentenced to 23 years in prison in New York for the charges brought against him in 2018.
December 2022: A jury in Los Angeles convicts him of raping a model.
February 2023: He receives a 16-year prison term, which runs alongside his New York sentence.
April 2024: His New York conviction is overturned, and a new trial is ordered.
September 2024: Weinstein undergoes treatment after contracting Covid and pneumonia.
September 2024: Weinstein hit with fresh sex charge.
November, 12, 2024: The proposed date for Weinstein’s rape retrial.