Harvey Weinstein was hospitalised after suffering a "dangerous" rise in blood pressure following his sentencing hearing on Wednesday (11.03.20).
The disgraced movie mogul – who was given 23 years in prison after being convicted of third-degree rape and a first-degree criminal sexual act – was rushed to hospital following the sentencing trial, and his spokesperson has confirmed the reason for hospitalisation.
Slamming rumours that Weinstein had suffered some sort of heart attack or some "emergency angioplasty" surgery, spokesman Juda Engelmayer said: "His blood pressure spiked to a dangerous level and given his angioplasty last week, they brought him to Bellevue to be watched and monitored. He did not have another angioplasty."
Weinstein is currently being monitored at Bellevue Hospital, after complaining of chest pains on Wednesday (11.03.20) evening, hours after he was sentenced for his crimes.
Justice James A. Burke, who had been presiding over the trial in State Supreme Court in Manhattan, New York, handed down the sentence of 23 years to Weinstein whilst prosecutor Joan Illuzzi praised the six women who had come forward to testify against Weinstein, all of who attended the sentencing.
Speaking directly to the victims, she said: "Without these women and others who were willing to come forward, this matter would never have been able to be taken, it never would have been successful, and the defendant would never have been able to stop hurting or destroying other people’s lives … He got drunk on power. He could take what he wanted knowing there was very little anyone could do about it."
Weinstein – who was convicted of his crimes on February 24 – arrived to court in a wheelchair after his legal team asked for a sentence of less than five years, claiming he may die in jail if he was sentenced to more than five years behind bars.
Harvey Weinstein suffered ‘dangerous’ rise in blood pressure
