Harvey Weinstein has chronic myeloid leukemia, NBC reports

Former Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein has chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), NBC News reported on Monday, citing sources.

Weinstein is currently undergoing treatment for CML, a type of bone marrow cancer, while in prison at Rikers Island in New York to face trial on rape charges, according to the NBC report.

Craig Rothfeld, Weinstein's legal healthcare representative, declined comment when Reuters asked about his health status, citing respect for Weinstein's privacy. Weinstein, 72, has been beset with health problems, his lawyers had earlier said. He was rushed to the hospital from Rikers Island jail in September to undergo heart surgery.

Harvey Weinstein (C) appears in Manhattan Criminal Court for a pretrial hearing, following his overturned sex crimes conviction, in New York City, July 19, 2024. AFP

Weinstein, who has denied having any non-consensual sexual encounters with anyone, was found guilty on rape charges in February 2020 in a case that provided impetus for the #MeToo movement. 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.

He is in prison awaiting a retrial.

Weinstein still faces two other criminal counts from an earlier indictment where he also pleaded not guilty, including another first-degree criminal sexual act charge and a third-degree rape charge. In September, he pleaded not guilty to an additional charge of sexual assault.

Weinstein suffers from diabetes, high blood pressure, spinal stenosis, and fluid in his heart and lungs, his representatives have previously said.

(Reporting by Chandni Shah and Harshita Meenaktshi in Bengaluru)