Harvey Weinstein Diagnosed With Bone Marrow Cancer, Report Says

Topline

Disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein—who has been accused of sexual assault by multiple women and indicted on fresh charges by a grand jury last month—is battling a form of bone marrow cancer, NBC News reported on Monday night.

Key Facts

According to NBC News, Weinstein is receiving treatment for chronic myeloid leukemia at Rikers Island prison in New York.

According to the National Cancer Institute, chronic myeloid leukemia is a disease where “the bone marrow makes too many white blood cells” and usually occurs “during or after middle age.”

In a statement to multiple outlets, Weinstein’s representatives refused to comment on the report “out of respect for Mr. Weinstein's privacy” and called the public discussion about his private health matters “troubling and unacceptable.”

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Tangent

The report about Weinstein’s cancer diagnosis comes a month after the disgraced Hollywood producer underwent emergency heart surgery. At the time, his representatives told Forbes that Weinstein had to be “rushed” from Rikers to Bellevue Hospital “due to several medical conditions”. They added he had a “procedure and surgery on his heart.” In July, Weinstein was transferred from Rikers to Bellevue Hospital to undergo treatment for multiple conditions, including COVID-19 and pneumonia. Weinstein also received treatment for numerous other ailments, including diabetes, high blood pressure, spinal stenosis, and fluid buildup in his heart and lungs, his representatives said.

Key Background

Last month, Weinstein pleaded not guilty to committing a criminal sex act after being indicted by a grand jury earlier in the month. The former Hollywood mogul was reportedly charged on one count of criminal sex act in the first degree, but other details about the allegations are not known. The grand jury’s indictment was reportedly based on evidence about three new allegations of assault against Weinstein from the mid-2000s and 2016. Over 100 women have accused the disgraced producer of sexual assault, rape, harassment and misconduct stretching across his four-decade-long career in Hollywood. Weinstein was convicted on criminal sexual assault and third-degree rape charges in 2020 in New York—and later on similar charges in Los Angeles. But the New York conviction was overturned in April by an appeals court after it found the presiding judge had incorrectly allowed other women, who accused Weinstein of sexual assault but were not part of the case, to testify.

Further Reading

Harvey Weinstein Pleads Not Guilty To Sex Crime Charge In New Indictment (Forbes)

Harvey Weinstein Hospitalized For Emergency Heart Surgery (Forbes)

Harvey Weinstein’s Rape Conviction Overturned In New York (Forbes)