Harvey Weinstein rushed to hospital for urgent heart surgery

Former Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein has undergone emergency heart surgery after experiencing chest pains at a New York City jail, ABC News reported, citing unnamed sources.

Weinstein, 72, is due in court this week where prosecutors had been presenting evidence to a New York grand jury as they work to secure a new indictment against him on sex crimes charges, ABC reported.

Weinstein, who has denied having any non-consensual sexual encounters with anyone, was found guilty on rape charges in February 2020. The New York Court of Appeals threw out the conviction in April, finding Weinstein did not get a fair trial because a judge improperly allowed testimony by accusers he was not formally charged with assaulting.

Weinstein suffers from diabetes, high blood pressure, spinal stenosis, fluid on his heart and lungs, and had recently contracted COVID and double pneumonia, according to a statement by Weinstein representatives to ABC on Monday.

A spokesman for Weinstein did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.