Harvey Weinstein, the disgraced movie mogul currently serving a 23-year sentence in New York, was reportedly hospitalized this week for a battery of medical tests.
According to his representatives, the 72-year-old was taken from Rikers Island to a Manhattan facility after experiencing chest pains and other undisclosed symptoms.
If you're new here: Weinstein is the guy whose name basically became a verb for getting away with stuff until he didn't.
His 2020 conviction for rape and sexual assault kicked off a whole era of "oh, so THAT'S why everyone was so weird about him." He's now facing a retrial in New York after an appeals court tossed the original verdict, plus a separate 16-year sentence in California.
Every time there's a court date looming or a retrial to prep for, suddenly there's a medical emergency.
This is the third or fourth hospital trip in as many years, and each one arrives with the same energy as a kid claiming they're too sick for school right before the big math test.
To be fair, the man is 72 and reportedly has a list of actual health problems, including heart issues and diabetes.
Rikers Island is also a genuinely terrible place to be sick, which is kind of the point.
But the pattern is doing a lot of heavy lifting for anyone trying to argue this is purely a coincidence.
Social media, predictably, did not send flowers.
The replies ranged from "thoughts and prayers" in the most sarcastic font imaginable to people digging up his old quotes about how he was a "titan" who deserved better treatment.
There's a certain poetic justice in a guy who spent decades allegedly using his power to dodge accountability now needing a hospital bed to do it.
Meanwhile, the retrial is still on the calendar, and the women who testified against him are apparently gearing up to do it again.
That's the part that actually matters here.
Because whether he's in a cell or a cardiac unit, the legal system has to keep moving.
The court date isn't going anywhere. **Our take:** Weinstein's health is a real thing and we're not doctors, but the man has spent his entire life dodging consequences, so a little skepticism about the latest medical drama is basically free.
Final Thoughts
The victims are the ones who deserve the sympathy here, not the guy who needs a wheelchair to face his accusers.