‘Gravely ill’ Harvey Weinstein may have virus in jail

Harvey Weinstein, who was jailed for sex crimes, is gravely ill in prison and may have contracted coronavirus.

Harvey Weinstein arrives at the Manhattan Criminal Court in New York City in February.

Harvey Weinstein, the film mogul who was jailed for sex crimes, is gravely ill in prison and may have contracted coronavirus, his spokesman said.

Weinstein, 68, was already said to be in poor health, being obese and suffering from various maladies that his defence lawyers cited at his trial, arguing that a prison term longer than five years would be an effective life sentence.

He is now serving 23 years at the Wende Correctional Facility near Buffalo in upstate New York. Shortly after he was confined there in March there were reports that he might have caught the coronavirus but these were never confirmed. Juda Engelmayer, his spokesman, said Weinstein had contracted a fever and was being “closely monitored” in isolation.

Harvey Weinstein enters a Manhattan court house in February in New York City.

In a joint statement with the state prison system Mr Engelmayer said the former tycoon “has a heart condition, high blood pressure and spinal stenosis”.

They said they could “neither confirm nor deny that Mr Weinstein has tested positive for Covid-19”.

Weinstein, who produced many films including Shakespeare in Love, was convicted of rape and sexual assault in February. He also faces further criminal proceedings in Los Angeles.

In the autumn of 2017 dozens of women accused him of sexual harassment or assault, beginning a fall from grace and power that spurred the #MeToo movement.

THE TIMES