Harvey Weinstein, the former Hollywood producer who was convicted of sexual crimes earlier this year, is making headlines once again in light of the coronavirus.
Harvey Weinstein Tests Positive
The Niagara Gazette reports that Weinstein, currently serving a 23-year prison sentence following his conviction for committing rape and sexual assault, has tested positive for the coronavirus, according to officials connected to the state prison system.
Weinstein, who recently turned 68 years old, is currently in isolation at the Wende Correctional Facility in Western New York. Another inmate also tested positive.
Officials close to the case said it’s believed Weinstein had already contracted the virus when he entered the prison last week after he was moved there from the infamous New York City jail Rikers Island.
Previously, Weinstein had been treated for chest pains and high blood pressure. There’s been no official word on Weinstein’s condition due to privacy rules.
Officials are urging all non-essential transfers to be put on hold for now. “There is no better breeding ground for this virus than a closed environment such as a correctional facility,” said Michael Powers, president of the New York State Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association.
Last week, the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision said that visits to inmates were being suspended to help curb the spread of the virus.
After a successful career in films, Weinstein was accused of sexual assault, harassment, and rape in articles that appeared in The New York Times and The New Yorker in October 2017. Consequently, Weinstein was fired from his production company and booted from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts and expelled from the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences.
On October 10, 2017, Georgina Chapman, Weinstein’s wife, announced that she was leaving him. Weinstein being exposed in the articles helped catapult the already established #metoo movement in which people were encouraged to come forward with stories of sexual abuse and harassment.
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