Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein has described life inside New York’s Rikers Island jail as “medieval” and “unsanitary." During a video interview with Candace Owens, uploaded on July 30, 2025, Weinstein stated that violent incidents, one of which involved a stabbing and a shootout, had delayed a planned interview with Owens.He detailed the conditions he faces at Rikers, where he has been held since his 2020 New York conviction was overturned last April."This is a very rough place. This is an unhygienic place," Weinstein told Owens. "You don't get your shirts, you don't get your socks, you don't get your underwear. You know, the food is rancid. I mean, it is really awful."He claimed it took him "five days to get a pillow" despite it being part of the "patient’s bill of rights." Weinstein, 73, who has multiple health issues, including heart disease, spinal stenosis, and cancer, said he had to rely on his legal team to lobby jail officials for basic necessities.Harvey Weinstein also said he was forced to delay his interview with Owens after a violent altercation caused the entire facility to go into lockdown. Owens said:"We were supposed to do this call last week, and then everything got locked down because there was a stabbing."Weinstein corrected her, saying,“A gunfight and a stabbing.”Weinstein told Owens that he was getting ready for the interview in the prison’s dentist's office when the lockdown happened, preventing him from speaking to the public.Harvey Weinstein is currently serving a 23-year prison sentence in New York and a concurrent 16-year sentence in California for r*pe and s*xual assault.Harvey Weinstein's prison complaints follow retrial convictionHarvey Weinstein’s interview was part of a complex legal saga. He was serving a 23-year sentence for r*pe and s*xual assault when his conviction was overturned in April 2024 after appellate judges found prejudicial testimony had tainted the trial. During his retrial in June 2025, he was convicted again on one count of s*xual assault involving former production assistant Miriam Haley. Weinstein was also individually sentenced to 16 years in 2023 for r*ping an actress in 2013. Weinstein's lawyers have made repeated attempts to have him transferred to Bellevue Hospital, arguing that his health is rapidly declining. As reported by ABC News in January 2025, Weinstein asked the court to speed up his trial so he could leave Rikers as soon as possible."Every day I'm at Rikers Island, it's a mystery to me how I'm still walking. I'm asking and begging you, your honor, I can't hold on anymore. I'm holding on because I want justice for myself, and I want this to be over with," Weinstein told the court.In April 2025, a judge temporarily approved the request, permitting him to stay at Bellevue Hospital until his retrial.Harvey Weinstein is currently serving a combined 39-year prison sentence across two separate convictions. In February 2023, he was sentenced to 16 years in California for the 2013 r*pe of an actress, to be served consecutively after the conclusion of his original 23-year New York sentence.