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Harvey Weinstein Asks L.A. Judge For Permission To Have Private Dental Work Done On Rotting Teeth
The disgraced Hollywood producer has asked a California judge that he be allowed private dental care after jail officials refused to allow him to have cosmetic dentistry after he gets teeth pulled.
All Harvey Weinstein wants — before Christmas — is his two front teeth.
The disgraced Hollywood mogul, currently incarcerated in the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department Twin Towers Correctional Facility awaiting his October trial on four counts of rape and seven counts of sexual assault, asked a L.A. judge on Wednesday for permission to visit a private dentist before his upcoming trial, the NY Post reported.
"This situation is an emergency," Weinstein told the judge. "I will pay for the dentist."
"I’m in pain every day," he added. "I have cavities and I can’t eat because I’m missing teeth."
Weinstein's lawyer, Mark Werksman, had previously brought Weinstein's dental concerns up with the judge in a court hearing on Aug. 29, the Post reported, asking the judge to pressure the sheriff's office to get Weinstein's teeth fixed.
"He is missing some teeth and needs some crowns fixed," Werksman explained to the paper at the time. "We don’t want him ... with gaping spaces in his mouth when he goes to trial. When he smiles, you can see he has missing teeth."
The judge presiding over his case, Superior Court Judge Lisa Lench, noted in court on Wednesday that she was told since their last hearing that Weinstein had visited the jail's clinic twice but had yet to resolve his issues. Werksman explained that Weinstein had been told the jail could either let his teeth continue to decay, or simply pull them — but they wouldn't offer cosmetic dental work, including implants or a dental bridge, to alleviate his difficulties eating or resolve the visible gaps in his mouth.
Werkman termed the refusal to provide basic cosmetic dentistry a potential violation of Weinstein's constitutional rights, suggesting that his client looked "ridiculous" and "like a caricature" with a gaping hole where his front teeth would be, according to the Post.
The judge refused to stipulate that Weinstein looked absurd, but told his lawyer to write a formal motion for her to review requesting that Weinstein be allowed to leave prison to receive private, cosmetic dental work on his own dime to resolve the issue.
Weinstein said in court that he would only require a day to receive the treatment, though a dental bridge fitting generally requires two visits and a dental implant can take three visits over the course of five to eight months.
Lench reminded Weinstein and Werkman that, even if Weinstein paid for private dental care himself, it would require the sheriff's office to expend man-hours to transport and remain with him there, the Post reported.
Weinstein was convicted of sexual assault and rape in New York in 2020. He's currently serving a 23-year sentence in that case. He's pleaded not guilty to the charges against him in Los Angeles.
