Disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein insists he is not faking illness

Harvey Weinstein shuffled into court on a walker last week. He insists he’s sick, despite since being seen walking unaided.

Movie producer Harvey Weinstein departs from criminal court after a bail hearing on December 11 using a walker. Picture: Jeenah Moon/Getty Images/AFP

Harvey Weinstein has released a photograph of himself in hospital to counter allegations that he was acting when he arrived at court leaning on a walking frame.

The disgraced Hollywood film producer’s lawyer called critics mean-spirited for suspecting that he was trying to garner sympathy when he appeared in public last week looking frail. However, the New York Post published photos of him walking unaided around a shop after his first outing with the walking frame.

Mr Weinstein, 67, who denies charges of rape, sex abuse and sexual misconduct against two women, is seen in the photograph seated in a New York hospital with one hand resting on the walker. His criminal trial is due to start next month.

Harvey Weinstein has since been interviewed with the walker in reach and cannulas in his hand. Picture: Twitter

A spokesman for Mr Weinstein, who headed the Miramax studio before forming his own company, said he underwent a three-hour back operation in New York on Thursday for injuries sustained in a car accident in the summer. He was said to have crashed after swerving to avoid hitting a deer.

“The idea he is faking his illness is ridiculous,” the spokesman said.

At his court appearance on Wednesday his bail was increased from $US1 million to $US5 million after prosecutors said that he routinely left home without his electronic tag, or the pieces of it that were required to track him.

The Times