Shortly after being sentenced to 23 years in prison for two felony sex crimes, former Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein has tested positive for the novel coronavirus. The report comes from Deadline, who suggests Weinstein is one of two prisoners at New York’s Wende Correctional Facility to test positive for the disease. Prior to his transfer to Wende — which is located east of Buffalo — Weinstein was being held at New York City’s Rikers Island, where upwards of 40 inmates have tested positive for the coronavirus as of this writing.
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Due to the confidentiality surrounding health diagnoses, New York’s Department of Correction was unable to confirm the report. “Our team…has not heard anything like that yet,” Weinstein’s PR boss Juda Engelmayer told the Hollywood tabloid. “I can’t tell you what I don’t know,” another assistant added.
Weinstein was sentenced to 23 years in prison earlier this month after a jury found him guilty of rape in the third degree and a criminal sexual act in the first degree. In total, the disgraced Hollywood elite had been charged with five charges, including three counts of predatory sexual assault. He was first charged by the New York County District Attorney on May 25, 2018 seven months after The New York Times’ Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey published a story detailing Weinstein’s sexual harassment and assault of dozens of actresses over the span of three decades. The Times and The New Yorker subsequently won Pulitzer Prizes for Public Service in 2018 for the coverage of the producer. In total, over 110 women have come forward accusing Weinstein of sexual harassment or assault.
Weinstein just turned 68, meaning he’ll reside in New York’s correctional system until he’s 91 years of age.
Cover photo by JOHANNES EISELE/AFP via Getty Images
