Jailed ex-movie mogul Harvey Weinstein underwent an emergency medical procedure at a New York City hospital on Monday to remove fluid on his heart and lungs after he complained of chest pains over the weekend, his representatives said.

Weinstein, 72, was rushed to Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan from the Rikers Island jail complex late Sunday “due to severe medical conditions”, his publicist Juda Engelmayer and prison consultant Craig Rothfeld said.

“We can confirm that Weinstein had a procedure and surgery on his heart today,” Engelmayer and Rothfeld said. Weinstein was out of surgery as of Monday afternoon and is in recovery, they said.

Rothfeld identified the procedure as pericardiocentesis surgery. He said Weinstein had not been feeling well for several weeks and was worsening by the day.

Weinstein’s lawyer, Arthur Aidala, said they requested that jail officials immediately move Weinstein to Bellevue “based on his complaints to us regarding chest pains”. In one email, Aidala said, he told them: “This guy is going to die on your watch if you don’t do something.”

The city department of correction’s public inmate-lookup website was updated on Monday to show that Weinstein was moved to the Bellevue Hospital Prison Ward from the West Facility at Rikers Island, which is used to isolate inmates with contagious diseases such as tuberculosis, or for other reasons.

Weinstein has been in and out of Bellevue Hospital since returning to Rikers Island from state prison in April.