Disgraced Hollywood movie producer Harvey Weinstein has tested positive for the coronavirus in prison, according to new reports on Sunday.
“Oscar-winning movie producer Harvey Weinstein, now one of New York’s most notorious prison inmates after being sentenced for sexual assault, has tested positive for the COVID-19 virus, according to officials connected to the state prison system,” Press-Republican reports.
“Officials familiar with his situation said it is believed Weinstein was positive for the virus when he entered the state prison system last Wednesday from Rikers Island, a New York City jail,” the site said.
Weinstein is being held in isolation at the Wende Correctional Facility in western New York.
Meanwhile, the New York Post said: “The state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision wouldn’t confirm the report, citing federal health-care privacy law, but said that two inmates at Wende had the coronavirus.”
And the Niagara-Gazette said, “Oscar-winning movie producer Harvey Weinstein, now one of New York’s most notorious prison inmates after being sentenced for sexual assault, has tested positive for the COVID-19 virus, according to officials connected to the state prison system.”
Weinstein, who turned 68 last Thursday is being isolated at Wende Correctional Facility in Western New York, officials told CNHI Sunday.
He is one of two Wende inmates who have tested positive, the officials said.
Weinstein is serving a 23-year sentence for rape and sexual assault in a prosecution that attracted world-wide attention amid the #MeToo movement.
Officials familiar with his situation said it is believed Weinstein was positive for the virus when he entered the state prison system last Wednesday from Rikers Island, a New York City jail.
“Juda Engelmayer, Weinstein’s spokesperson, told The Daily Beast on Sunday that ‘our team… has not heard anything like that yet.’ Engelmayer also could not confirm if the “Pulp Fiction” producer was currently in isolation,” The Beast reported.
Deadline.com also said Weinstein has been diagnosed with COVID-19.
Harvey Weinstein has tested positive for the novel coronavirus in prision.
Just days after being transferred to the Wende Correctional Facility from NYC’s Rikers Island, the Oscar winning producer and convicted rapist is now in medical isolation, an Empire State law enforcement official confirms to Deadline.
Under the policy that they “cannot comment on an individual’s medical record,” New York State’s Department of Corrections representatives did not respond to request for direct confirmation. “Our team …has not heard anything like that yet,” said Weinstein PR chief Juda Engelmayer on Sunday. “I can’t tell you what I don’t know,” the producer’s personal rep added.
Said Variety, citing the Niagara-Gazette: “The sources told the newspaper it is believed Weinstein had already contracted the virus by the time he entered the state prison system last Wednesday when he was transferred from Rikers Island in New York City. Prior to being transferred to Rikers, Weinstein was at Bellevue Hospital in New York City where he was being monitored for a heart condition and high blood pressure. Prior to his sentencing, Weinstein underwent an angioplasty at Bellevue.”
On Feb. 24, the one-time movie mogul was found guilty by a New York jury of two sex crime felony charges and on March 11 was sentenced to 23 years behind bars.