Los Angeles: Disgraced movie producer Harvey Weinstein is diagnosed with bone marrow cancer.
According to NBC News, Weinstein has chronic myeloid leukemia, a form of bone marrow cancer, reports variety.com.
“Craig Rothfeld, Mr. Weinstein’s authorized legal healthcare representative in New York State, expresses profound dismay at the speculation surrounding Mr. Weinstein’s medical condition,” Weinstein’s spokesperson Juda Engelmayer said in a statement.
“It is both troubling and unacceptable that such private and confidential health matters have become a subject of public discourse. Out of respect for Mr. Weinstein’s privacy, we will offer no further comment.”
Weinstein recently appeared in a Manhattan court in September, his first time after undergoing heart surgery. He was wheeled in by courthouse security guards in a wheelchair, and pleaded not guilty to the additional criminal sex act charge he was indicted on a week prior in New York.
His lawyer Arthur Aidala claimed that the disgraced movie producer “almost died” following emergency heart surgery.
The former movie tycoon had previously been hospitalised during the summer for other issues including diabetes, and contracted Covid and double pneumonia while in the hospital.
In April, the New York Court of Appeals overturned Weinstein’s 2020 rape conviction. The appeals court ruled that Weinstein’s original trial erred by allowing three additional accusers to testify about their own assault allegations when they should not have been permitted. Their testimonies were prejudiced against Weinstein and didn’t shed any light on the charges he faced; the appeals court vacated the conviction and ordered a retrial.
The new trial was tentatively set for November, but it’s now eying an early 2025 date.
After becoming one of the most-accused figures of the #MeToo movement, Weinstein has continued to deny that he assaulted or raped anyone.
It was in 1979, when Weinstein and his brother Bob co-founded the entertainment company Miramax, which produced several successful films including “Sex, Lies, and Videotape”, “The Crying Game”, “Pulp Fiction” and “Shakespeare in Love” to name a few.
–IANS