Crime
Harvey Weinstein Says He Deserves ‘Kinder’ Treatment as He Fears Dying in Prison
For the first time since his arrest in 2018, Harvey Weinstein sat down for an interview — and the disgraced movie mogul revealed that the thought of dying in prison “scares the s**t out of” him.
“Cold and heartless. It’s incredible to have the life that I had and the things that I did for society and not have the leniency to deal with me in a kinder way,” Weinstein, 73, said during an interview with The Hollywood Reporter published on Tuesday, March 10.
“Whatever they think I did bad in my life, I didn’t get the death penalty,” he continued. “I’m going to be 74 in March. I don’t want to die in here.”
Since the initial reporting in 2017, over 80 women have accused the disgraced movie mogul of sexual assault, rape and sexual abuse. It was later revealed that Weinstein hired private investigators to follow some of his accusers. While some believe that’s evidence of wrongdoing, Weinstein disagrees.
“The thing I was doing wrong was not sexual assault,” Weinstein explained. “It was cheating on my wife. I was desperate to keep that secret from her. I did not want Disney to find out. I did everything to protect myself from that kind of scandal.”
Despite Weinstein claiming that his staff would sometimes cover for him, he admitted that he was the only person who did anything wrong.
“There’s only one person who’s to blame. That’s me. It’s all on me,” Weinstein said. “I will say, though, when a guy invites you to his hotel room in the middle of the night, you know what’s on the agenda.”
Weinstein is currently being held at Rikers Island in New York after being convicted of sex crimes in New York and California. His original 2020 New York conviction was later overturned on appeal.
