Harvey Weinstein claims that his declining health has gotten the best of him while behind bars.
According to People, on Wednesday (January 29), Weinstein, 72, told Judge Curtis Farber of the Manhattan Supreme Court that he "can't hold on much longer." and sought a speedy retrial of his 2020 rape and sexual assault conviction in New York. The decision was overturned in 2024 when the New York Court of Appeals determined that Weinstein was not given a fair trial. This came after the finding that women who weren't involved in the charges testified.
In 2020, Weinstein was sentenced to 23 years in New York, and in February 2023, he was sentenced to 16 years after being found guilty of sexual assault in Los Angeles.
Weinstein stated that if he is forced to stay on Rikers Island, he "won't be there" for the intended start on April 15. "I can't hold on," Weinstein told Judge Farber. "I'm begging for you to move the date...I want to be out of this hellhole."
"I want this to be over with," he later added. "Every day is a struggle in my heart."
Weinstein even claimed to be speaking up on behalf of his fellow inmates. "There are so many people suffering on Rikers Island, so many people I'm with in prison," Weinstein stressed. "I speak for all of them."
When urged by Weinstein to set an April 7 court start date, Judge Farber said that he'd consider it if his lawyers did the same. Weinstein's next pretrial court appearance is scheduled for March 12.
Last September, Weinstein was also charged with sex crimes in New York involving three accusers. Weinstein's lawyers sought for the charge to be thrown out, but Judge Farber dismissed their motion on Wednesday.
In October 2024, Weinstein was diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukemia, for which he was in and out of Bellevue Hospital before returning to Rikers Island. Weinstein was previously incarcerated at Mohawk Correctional Facility.