Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein rushed to hospital hours after guilty verdict

Harvey Weinstein has been rushed to a Manhattan hospital hours after he was found guilty of sex acts.

Harvey Weinstein has been taken to Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan after complaining of chest pains, according to his representative. Weinstein was supposed to be transferred to the jail on Rikers Island, but was diverted to Bellevue.

Weinstein was remanded into custody on Tuesday morning after a jury convicted him on charges of sexual assault and third-degree rape. Bellevue is known for its psychiatric facility, but it also serves as a hospital for jail inmates.

Weinstein had been free on $US2 million bond, but Justice James Burke ordered him held in jail prior to sentencing on March 11.

His lawyer, Donna Rotunno, urged the judge to allow him to remain free, saying that he recently had unsuccessful back surgery and requires shots in order to keep from going blind.

Weinstein appeared in court most days with a walker, which his attorneys said was a result of his lingering back issues.

Weinstein faces up to 25 years jail after being found guilty of criminal sex acts in a landmark case which helped spark the #MeToo movement.

The verdict caps a spectacular fall for the former powerful Hollywood producer after numerous women came forward to claim they had been sexually abused by the now 67-year-old.

A jury in New York convicted Weinstein on two counts of rape and sexual assault, including forcing a sex act on former production assistant Mimi Haley at her apartment in 2006 and the rape of aspiring actress Jessica Mann at a hotel in 2013.

They found Weinstein guilty of criminal sexual assault in the first degree with Haley and rape in the third degree with Mann.

The verdict means Weinstein will face between five and 25 years in jail but he also faces a separate trial in Los Angeles where he is charged with raping one woman and sexually assaulting another in separate periods in 2013.

However, the jury in New York acquitted Weinstein on three other counts including the most serious charges of predatory sexual assault which would have carried a potential life sentence.

Weinstein, who attended the court on a walker, stared straight ahead as the verdict was read and did not betray any emotion.

The judge remanded Weinstein in custody and he was led away in handcuffs to a jail cell as he awaits sentencing on March 11.

“This is the new landscape for survivors of sexual assault in America and this is a new day,” Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance said after the verdict. “I hope women will understand the significance of the jury verdict today.’

“Harvey Weinstein has finally been held accountable for the crimes he has committed...(he is) a vicious serial sexual predator.’’

Manhattan District lawyer Cy Vance speaks at a press conference after a Manhattan judge ordered Harvey Weinstein to remain in custody until his sentencing, scheduled for March 11, on a guilty conviction for sexual assault and rape.

Time’s Up, a movement which advocates for gender equity in the workplace, said the verdict “marks a new era of justice’’.

“This trial — and the jury’s decision today — marks a new era of justice, not just for the Silence Breakers, who spoke out at great personal risk, but for all survivors of harassment, abuse, and assault at work,” said Tina Tchen, president and CEO of the Time’s Up Foundation.

The jury of seven men and five women took five days to reach a verdict in the case which received worldwide attention and sparked a reckoning in relation to sexual assault against women by powerful men.

More than 75 women, many of them aspiring Hollywood actresses, have made allegations against Weinstein of sexual assault.

Many of these young actresses claimed Weinstein took advantage of them sexually knowing that he was a producer who could make or break their careers.

Weinstein claims all his sexual encounters with women were consensual. The prosecution’s case was complicated by the fact that both Haley and Mann admitted they continued to see Weinstein after the assaults and had consensual sex with him.

During the trial the judge allowed testimony from four other women who said they had also been sexually assaulted by Weinstein but whose attacks were too old to press legal charges.

In her closing argument, Assistant District lawyer Joan Illuzzi described Weinstein as an “abusive rapist” and “predator” who not only assaulted the victims but also tried to bully them into silence.

Weinstein’s lawyers said they will appeal.

“Harvey is very strong. Harvey is unbelievably strong. He took it like a man,” defence lawyer Donna Rotunno said. “He knows that we will continue to fight for him, and we know that this is not over.”

Harvey Weinstein's lawyer Donna Rotunno speaks to the media outside court after Weinstein was found guilty of a criminal sexual act and third degree rape.

In new charges announced in Los Angeles in January, prosecutors charged Weinstein with raping one woman and sexually assaulting another in separate periods over two days in 2013.

LA County District Attorney Jackie Lacey said Weinstein had raped a woman after forcing his way into her hotel room on February 18, 2013.

She said he had been charged with one felony count each of forcible rape, forcible oral copulation, sexual penetration by use of force and sexual battery by restraint.

The LA charges carry a maximum sentence of 28 years in jail.

The charges and trial represented a stunning turn for Weinstein, who was once viewed as one of Hollywood’s most skilled executives. His personal life and namesake studio have collapsed over the past few years. Following media reports about the allegations, Weinstein was fired as co-chairman of Weinstein Co, his independent movie and television studio. The studio’s films included Lee Daniels’ The Butler, which grossed more than $US100 million at the domestic box office. He was known as the Oscar-winning orchestrator behind hits like Shakespeare in Love and The King’s Speech.

Gloria Allred (right), who represents three of Harvey Weinstein's accusers, stands beside Weinstein's lawyer Donna Rotunno before they spoke to the media outside court after Weinstein was found guilty.

After the verdict, jury foreman Bernard Cody was asked as he left court how the deliberations were for him personally and responded: “Devastating.” He did not elaborate.

Rumours about Weinstein’s behaviour swirled in Hollywood circles for a long time, but he managed to silence many accusers with payoffs, nondisclosure agreements and the constant fear that he could crush their careers if they spoke out. Weinstein was finally arrested in May 2018, seven months after The New York Times and The New Yorker exposed his alleged misconduct in stories that would win the Pulitzer Prize.

Among other men taken down by the #MeToo movement since the scandal broke: news anchors Matt Lauer and Charlie Rose, actor Kevin Spacey and Senator Al Franken.

Weinstein, the product of a working-class family from Queens, achieved success at two movie studios he created with his brother Bob: Miramax — named for their parents, Miriam and Max — and then the Weinstein Co.

The Weinstein Co. went bankrupt after his disgrace. A tentative settlement was reached last year to resolve nearly all lawsuits stemming from the scandal. It would pay Weinstein’s alleged victims about $US25 million, but he would not have to admit any wrongdoing or personally pay anything; the studio’s insurance companies would cover the cost.

(Cameron Stewart is also US Contributor for Sky News Australia)

With The Wall Street Journal