Harvey Weinstein was found guilty of rape and a felony sex offense in a New York City courtroom on Monday, and Fox News reported that after the verdict was read, the disgraced movie mogul began to complain of heart palpitations.
Weinstein departed from the courthouse via ambulance and was supposed to be taken to the Rikers Island correctional facility, but he was instead transported to Bellevue Hospital where he was offloaded on a stretcher.
The film producer claimed to be suffering from health problems throughout his trial and was been regularly seen moving through the courthouse with the assistance of a walker.
Weinstein under medical care
“He will have medical care. We made a request,” Weinstein lawyer Donna Rotunno said to Fox News Damon Cheronis following the verdict.
“We have already heard tonight that’s being honored. He was being moved to an infirmary of Rikers, but now we just heard before coming on that he was experiencing some high blood pressure and some heart palpitations,” she added.
Rotunno described her client as being “unbelievably strong,” adding that Weinstein “took it like a man” and he “knows we will continue to fight for him.” Rotunno also continued to argue for Weinstein’s innocence.
“I think the evidence just didn’t support a guilty finding on any counts,” the lawyer maintained. “I think the jury was in a position where they looked at a verdict sheet of five counts and felt that they couldn’t walk out of there and convict him of nothing.”
Friend to liberal elite
Weinstein was convicted of assaulting a production assistant in 2006 as well an aspiring actress in 2013. What’s more, he faces additional charges in California.
As founder of Miramax Films, Weinstein was a major player in Hollywood who was accustomed to receiving endless praise from other entertainment industry luminaries. Veteran actress Meryl Streep compared him to God during the 2012 Golden Globes.
However, his alleged treatment of women was an open secret in Hollywood and beyond. Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane even joked about them at the 2013 Oscar nomination announcement ceremony.
“Congratulations,” he said to that year’s nominees for Best Actress, “you five ladies no longer have to pretend to be attracted to Harvey Weinstein.”
In addition to being an important figure in filmmaking circles, Weinstein has also been extremely active in liberal politics. He raised a substantial amount of money for former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s campaigns and once threatened to take on the National Rifle Association, saying “they’re going to wish they weren’t alive after I’m done with them.”
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