Harvey Weinstein in prison hospital with Covid and double pneumonia

Harvey Weinstein appeared at Manhattan criminal court last week in a wheelchair. Photo / Pool / Getty Images

Harvey Weinstein has been admitted to hospital with Covid and double pneumonia in the latest episode of ill health to hit the disgraced producer.

The 72-year-old, who is awaiting a retrial in his New York rape case, was moved from Rikers Island jail to Bellevue Prison Hospital on Friday.

He is being treated for “a myriad of health conditions”, including diabetes, high blood pressure, a spinal condition and fluid in his heart and lungs, according to Craig Rothfeld, a prison consultant.

The former film mogul spent 10 days in Bellevue Hospital in April, with Arthur Aidala, his lawyer, describing him at the time as “somewhat of a train wreck, health-wise” whose “life is on the line” but is mentally still “sharp as a tack”.

Once one of the most powerful men in Hollywood, Weinstein fell from grace when dozens of women came forward to accuse him of inappropriate and criminal behaviour.

He was found guilty in 2020 of rape and sexual assault but the conviction was overturned on appeal in April.

New York’s highest court found Weinstein did not get a fair trial because a judge had improperly allowed testimony from accusers who were not directly linked to the case. It was one of a series of “egregious errors” the Court of Appeals identified as depriving him of due process. A retrial has been scheduled for November.

He has denied any wrongdoing and claimed that all sexual activity was consensual.

Weinstein has remained behind bars in part because he was sentenced to 16 years in prison in California after he was convicted in a rape case in Los Angeles in 2022.

Weinstein has often appeared in recent court hearings in a wheelchair and looking frail. New York prosecutors are now pushing for a new trial as early as September and Weinstein’s lawyers have said they want to proceed as soon as possible.

Alvin Bragg, the Manhattan District Attorney, has vowed to do “everything in our power” to retry the case and said his office “remains steadfast in our commitment to survivors of sexual assault”.

Prosecutors said they intend to charge Weinstein for “additional violent sexual assaults” after more women agreed to testify.