Harvey Weinstein Begs Judge to Move Trial Date Up, Calls Jail 'Hellhole': 'Can't Hold On Much Longer'

Harvey Weinstein begged a New York judge to move up his retrial date, claiming he’s in poor health and doesn’t know “how much longer I can hold on.”

A frail Weinstein was rolled into court Wednesday in a wheelchair, wearing a black suit and holding onto a book.

Beset with health problems, Weinstein told Judge Curtis Farber of Manhattan Supreme Court that he “can’t hold on” much longer and was requesting a speedy retrial of his 2020 conviction on rape and sexual assault chages in New York, which was overturned last year after the New York Court of Appeals ruled he didn’t receive a fair trial because women uninvolved in the charges were allowed to testify.

Weinstein claimed he “won’t be there” for the scheduled start on April 15 if he is consigned to remain on Rikers Island, pleading for the retrial to be set even a week earlier on April 7.

“I can’t hold on,” Weinstein told 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. Everyday is a struggle in my heart.” 

Weinstein, speaking from his wheelchair, went on to note it’s a “mystery” how he is still walking in custody.

Weinstein even said he “speaks” for fellow incarcerated people on Rikers Island — a facility so beset with violence and disorder that New York City has been held in contempt of court, and the jails may be taken over by a federal receivership.

“There are so many people suffering on Rikers Island, so many people I’m with in prison,” noted Weinstein. “I speak for all of them.”

Weinstein, 72, was also indicted in September on new sex crimes charges alleged by three different victims in New York City. Farber on Wednesday denied a motion by Weinstein’s attorneys to dismiss that indictment.

“Judge Farber demonstrated exceptional responsiveness, and we deeply appreciate his thoughtful consideration of Harvey’s condition and circumstances,” Weinstein’s spokesperson, Juda Engelmayer, said in a statement sent to PEOPLE following the hearing. “We remain confident in a swift and efficient trial process and firmly believe that Harvey will be fully exonerated.”

The ex-mogul’s retrial was originally set for November, but Judge Farber delayed it into 2025 after granting a prosecution motion to consolidate the new indictments with the previous case, the Associated Press reported.

Weinstein was convicted in 2020 of third-degree rape for sexually assaulting an actress in 2013 and for committing a criminal sex act by forcibly performing oral sex on a former production assistant in 2006. He was sentenced to 23 years in prison and began serving his term at Wende Correctional Facility in upstate New York.

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Weinstein was also convicted in California in 2022 on charges he raped an actress in a Beverly Hills hotel. That conviction, which netted him a 16 year sentence, still stands.

Weinstein was moved to Rikers Island in New York City ahead of a retrial. He spent time in Bellevue Hospital’s prison wing after being diagnosed with leukemia and facing other health ailments, but has since been transferred back to Rikers.

Nearly 100 other women have accused Weinstein of sexual harassment and sexual assault. The initial allegations against Weinstein in 2017, when he was one of the most powerful figures in Hollywod, sparked the global #MeToo movement.

If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, please contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or go to rainn.org.