Harvey Weinstein has sued car manufacturer Chrysler over a 2019 crash that the disgraced movie producer claims left him paralysed.
The convicted sex offender alleged in lawsuit papers filed this week that faulty brakes on a Jeep Wrangler he was driving caused the car to flip when he tried to avoid a deer.
The incident occurred in Bedford, New York, and 70-year-old Weinstein claims it left him ‘catastrophically injured and rendered paralysed’.
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Weinstein said he’d been gifted the vehicle by Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and in return had promised to feature one of the cars in a film he was working on, although the name of the title was not specified.
He claims the ‘dangerous’ vehicle left him with ‘significant and continuing conscious pain and suffering’ and ‘severe spine and back injuries’.
In 2020, Weinstein was convicted of a criminal sex act for forcibly performing oral sex on a production assistant back in 2006, and walked with the help of a frame for much of the trial.
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He was also convicted of rape in the third degree over a 2013 attack on an aspiring actor.
The two charges combined earned him 23 years behind bars, a sentence he’s currently serving in California.
Earlier this month, Weinstein’s rape conviction was upheld by a New York appeals court despite the former film titan’s claims that his previous trial was prejudiced because women who weren’t part of the criminal case were allowed to testify.
Weinstein is currently awaiting another trial in LA over charges he assaulted five women in the state between 2004 and 2013.
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In November 2021, Weinstein was reprimanded by guards at LA’s Twin Towers jail after Milk Duds – a variety of chocolate-covered caramel sweets – were found in his possession, according to documents seen by Variety at the time.
Jail authorities believed the only way he could have acquired the chocolate is through a visit from an attorney, despite Weinstein’s claims he’d picked them up when he was extradited from New York months earlier.
On 3 March, Weinstein issued an apology, telling E! News: “This was an innocent misunderstanding.
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“It will not happen again. I have been a model inmate, following the rules and regulations and I am sincerely sorry.”
Mark Werksman and Alan Jackson, Weinstein’s lead attorneys, also apologised for the incident, adding: “We have been informed about this and are very sorry it happened.
“It had not happened before, and never happened since. Harvey has been a model inmate and intends to continue as such.”
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Aisha Nozari