Harvey Weinstein says he was 'punched' amid life on Riker's Island
Harvey Weinstein says he was 'punched' amid life on Riker's Island
Anna Kaufman, USA TODAYTue, March 10, 2026 at 5:49 PM UTC
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Harvey Weinstein is pulling the curtain back on his life behind bars.
The disgraced movie mogul, who is currently serving a multi-year sentence in New York for charges of sexual assault, spoke with The Hollywood Reporter for the first sit-down interview since his arrest. In it, he detailed life on Riker's Island, the notorious water-surrounded prison in the Bronx, where he's been held for over a year.
Weinstein, 73, told the outlet that he spends 23 hours a day in his cell, gets wheeled out a half hour a day for air, and only has contact with guards and nurses. There's no socializing in his wing.
"It's hell," he told The Hollywood Reporter. "It was different when I was in state prison. I got up in the morning, I had breakfast, I saw friends, I spoke to people. We all watched TV together. I've been begging to go to state, but the DA's office says, 'Because you have a trial upcoming, you stay at Rikers. We want to keep an eye on you.' They kept an eye on me for 19 months now. I don't know where they think I'm going."
In June, Weinstein was convicted in a New York sex-crimes retrial that rehashed some of the defining accusations of his original #MeToo case and conviction.
The jury found Weinstein guilty of a first-degree criminal sexual act, but did not convict him of a second first-degree criminal sexual act. The judge declared a mistrial on the third count of third-degree rape, after one juror refused to continue deliberations.
Weinstein revealed that while his celebrity may have been an asset in the outside world – even reportedly acting as the main weapon in his alleged sexual coercions – in prison, it is a liability.
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"It hurts me because it forces me into isolation. It's too dangerous for me to be around anyone else," he told the outlet, claiming other inmates often ask him for money or legal assistance. "I'm constantly threatened and derided. I wouldn't last long out there."
The onetime Hollywood titan, who has since been accused by dozens of women of sexual assault and misconduct, said he had been physically assaulted in jail. "He got off and punched me hard in the face. I fell on the floor, bleeding everywhere," he said. "I was hurt really badly."
Yet when guards asked who had done it, he refused to reveal the perpetrator: "You can't be a rat. That's the law of the jungle."
He speaks to three of his children by phone, he revealed, though the others have cut ties with him. Weinstein also told THR that he sometimes rents movies or orders books on Amazon, and gets scripts sent by college students who want his input.
"I'm dying here. And the DA's idea is probably to have me dying in prison. But I am dying," he said. "It scares …me. 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. Whatever they think I did bad in my life, I didn't get the death penalty. I'm going to be 74 in March. I don't want to die in here."
If you or someone you know has experienced sexual violence, RAINN's National Sexual Assault Hotline offers free, confidential, 24/7 support in English and Spanish via chat and at 800-656-4673. If you or someone you know is a victim of domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 800-799-7233 or text "START" to 88788.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Harvey Weinstein on Riker's Island stint, says he will die in prison
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
