HARVEY Weinstein has been left to rot in prison as he whines about boredom and health problems ahead of his sex crimes retrial.
The disgraced Hollywood producer, 73, is returning to court five years after he was convicted of rape and thrown in New York City's largest jail, where he has reportedly faced grim conditions behind bars.
Weinstein's rape retrial begins on Wednesday after his previous conviction was overturned on appeal in a bombshell move last year, slashing his sentence of 23 years in prison.
The former movie mogul is fighting the same allegations he was already found guilty of in 2020, plus new accusations are set to be heard by a majority-female jury.
His lawyers weren't convinced he would even make it to the retrial following years of his while in Rikers Island jail.
Weinstein, who has diabetes and was diagnosed with last year, begged the judge in January to push his trial forward as he complained of “medieval” jail conditions interfering with his recovery while issues with his medication and treatment arose.
“I won't be there for April,” Weinstein, shackled to his walker whenever he leaves his prison cell, pleaded in court.
On top of his complaints of inattentive medical care, the shamed producer has been isolated from other inmates for 23 hours a day throughout the last five years due to prison policy.
But Weinstein isn't lacking conversation – he spends a lot of his time on the phone with prison consultant Craig Rothfeld, according to a recent glimpse into his life behind bars by the Hollywood Reporter.
Rothfeld, who also looks out for suspected CEO assassin , was hired as Weinstein's business liaison and health care representative immediately after he was convicted in 2020.
He estimated he's spoken with the former studio head about 6,000 times over the phone as the two talk about three or four times daily.
Rikers inmates are allowed 21 minutes of phone time every three hours per day.
“We talk about politics, what’s going on in Israel. What’s going on in the world,”; Rothfeld told THR.
“Books he’s reading. I think getting his mind off his situation helps him.”;
Weinstein has been pictured carrying around large books during his time in prison, including Elia Kazan: A Biography by Richard Schickel and bestseller Conclave by Robert Harris.
People send Weinstein things to read from Amazon while in prison and he reportedly gets two or three new books a week, according to THR.
He also has a tablet at Rikers to scroll the internet, but loses access when he goes to the facility at Bellevue Hospital's prison wing.
The disgraced movie mogul keeps up with the news as much as possible – and even sends in tips about himself to the Daily Mail and TMZ when he can, THR reported.
He also watches the news or Entertainment Tonight in the day room at Rikers, Rothfeld said.
As a prison consultant, Rothfeld works to give advice and sentencing expertise to inmates.
He served his own sentence at Rikers after he was convicted in 2015 for fraud.
LUIGI'S CASE
The adviser has been hired on by Mangione, who is currently held at the notorious Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn.
Mangione, 26, is accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO in Manhattan on December 4, 2024.
He has pleaded not guilty to murder, terrorism, and weapons charges in the case.
The alleged killer has not entered a plea for the over the murder.
His federal arraignment is scheduled for Friday.
If you or someone you know is affected by any of the issues raised in this story, call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-4673.
