Man who shot Ronald Reagan to impress Jodie Foster shares new message for her 45 years later
A man who shot President Ronald Reagan in a ‘delusional’ attempt to impress Jodie Foster has shared a new message for the Hollywood star 45 years on.
John Hinckley Jr., now 71, shot Reagan and three others outside a hotel in Washington, DC, on 30 March 1981.
The former president was left with a punctured lung, a broken rib and internal bleeding, while White House press secretary James Brady, Secret Service agent Tim McCarthy, and police officer Thomas Delahanty were also wounded.
Hinckley, who was 25 at the time, was subsequently arrested and during the investigation it came to light that he had carried out the shootings in an attempt to impress Foster.
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Hinckley had become infatuated with Foster, who was then 18, after seeing her inTaxi Driver and had written numerous letters and notes to the star.
The case went to trial the following year where Hinckley was found not guilty by reason of insanity.
He spent more than three decades in a psychiatric facility before being released in 2022.
Now, 45 years on from the shooting, Hinckley has sat down for a rare interview for the Mark Joseph Show, according to a preview from Entertainment Weekly, where he shared a new message for Foster.
“I just wish Jodie Foster well, you know,” Hinckley said, per the publication.
“I don’t really see her movies, but I wish her well, and I know she’s doing quite well. And that’s all I can say is just, I wish Jodie well, and I hope she has a good life.”
Explaining what was going through his mind at the time of the shooting, he added: “I wanted to have a union with Jodie Foster and live the rest of my life with her and all these things that, of course, were delusional. But I was believing those things at the time, so the best outcome would have been a union with Jodie Foster.”
Hinckley was then asked by Joseph if it had occurred to him that he could end up behind bars for the shooting when he was planning it.
“I thought she would, you know, after things settled down, join me wherever I was,” Hinckley said.
“I wasn’t sure if I was gonna be in jail or the hospital or what after things settled down. I had this notion that she was gonna join me wherever I was.”
Foster, who is now 62, rarely comments on the incident.
However, speaking to Jodie Comer for Interview magazine back in 2024, Foster said that the experience was the main reason why she’ll likely never do live theater again.
She said: "I’m finally able to admit that the one bit of theatre I did when I was in college, there was so much trauma involved in it.
"Well, just quickly, the play happened in two weekends, and I did the first weekend, and in between the first weekend and the second weekend, John Hinckley shot the president.
"... It was a huge moment. It was a long time ago. You probably don’t even know, but he shot him in order to impress me, and he had written letters to me, so it was a big moment in my life.”
Claire Reid