Harvey Weinstein Has Chronic Myeloid Leukemia, NBC Reports

Former film producer Harvey Weinstein appears in court in New York, US, September 18, 2024. (Reuters)
Former film producer Harvey Weinstein appears in court in New York, US, September 18, 2024. (Reuters)
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Harvey Weinstein Has Chronic Myeloid Leukemia, NBC Reports

Former film producer Harvey Weinstein appears in court in New York, US, September 18, 2024. (Reuters)
Former film producer Harvey Weinstein appears in court in New York, US, September 18, 2024. (Reuters)

Former Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein has chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), NBC News reported on Monday, citing sources.

Weinstein is currently undergoing treatment for CML, a type of bone marrow cancer, while in prison at Rikers Island in New York to face trial on rape charges, according to the NBC report.

Craig Rothfeld, Weinstein's legal healthcare representative, declined comment when asked by Reuters on the status of his health, citing respect for Weinstein's privacy.

Weinstein, 72, has been beset with health problems, his lawyers had earlier said. He was rushed to the hospital from Rikers Island jail in September to undergo heart surgery.

Weinstein, who has denied having any non-consensual sexual encounters with anyone, was found guilty on rape charges in February 2020 in a case that provided impetus for the #MeToo movement. The New York Court of Appeals threw out the conviction in April, finding Weinstein did not get a fair trial because a judge improperly allowed testimony by accusers he was not formally charged with assaulting.

He is in prison awaiting a retrial.

Weinstein still faces two other criminal counts from an earlier indictment where he also pleaded not guilty, including another first-degree criminal sexual act charge and a third-degree rape charge. In September, he pleaded not guilty to an additional charge of sexual assault.

Weinstein suffers from diabetes, high blood pressure, spinal stenosis, fluid in his heart and lungs, his representatives have previously said.



Brian Wilson's Top Five Beach Boys Songs

Musician Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys performs onstage at the 54th Annual Grammy Awards. KEVIN WINTER / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP/File
Musician Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys performs onstage at the 54th Annual Grammy Awards. KEVIN WINTER / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP/File
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Brian Wilson's Top Five Beach Boys Songs

Musician Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys performs onstage at the 54th Annual Grammy Awards. KEVIN WINTER / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP/File
Musician Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys performs onstage at the 54th Annual Grammy Awards. KEVIN WINTER / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP/File

From the carefree sound of California surf music to the sophistication of later darker works, here are five of the top hits penned by influential Beach Boys founder Brian Wilson.

'Surfin' USA' (1963)

"Surfin' USA" was the Beach Boys' first global hit, taken from their eponymous debut album. A youthful ode to sea, sun and girls, it became an anthem for the West Coast and beyond.

It demonstrated Brian Wilson's increasing songwriting prowess as well as the band's unique vocal sound achieved thanks to double tracking.

"We'll all be gone for the summer/ We're on safari to stay/ Tell the teacher we're surfin'/ Surfin' USA," it rang out.

Wilson intentionally set his lyrics to the music of "Sweet Little Sixteen," by Chuck Berry, leading Berry to take legal action.

'California Girls' (1965)

On the big hit of the summer of 1965, Wilson's cousin Mike Love burst into song to celebrate the sun-tanned women of California.

"I wish they all could be California girls," the band members sang in seemless harmony.

It was also the first song written by Wilson under the influence of LSD, "which could explain why the accompaniment seems to move in a slow, steady daze at odds with the song's bright, major-key melody," Rolling Stone magazine wrote.

'God Only Knows' (1966)

It took Wilson just 45 minutes to write "God Only Knows," the legendary eighth track on the album "Pet Sounds" which has gone down as one of the greatest love songs ever.

Sung by brother Carl Wilson, Brian's rival Paul McCartney declared it to be his favorite song of all time and said it reduced him to tears.

But the record company and other members of the group were wary at the new turn in style.

'Good Vibrations'(1966)

"Good Vibrations" was a massive commercial success, selling one million copies in the United States and topping charts there and in several other countries including the UK.

At the time the most expensive single ever made, the "pocket symphony" was recorded in four different studios, consumed over 90 hours of tape and included a complexity of keys, textures, moods and instrumentation.

The song was a far cry from the group's surf-and-sun origins and the enormity of the task brought Wilson to the brink. He was unable to go on and complete the album "Smile," of which the song was to have been the centerpiece.

- 'Til I die' (1971) -

On side B of the album "Surf's Up,'Til I die" was composed in 1969 by a depressed Wilson worn down by mental illness and addiction.

He wrote in his 1991 autobiography that it was perhaps the most personal song he had written for the Beach Boys.