John Hinckley Jr. Shares Message to Jodie Foster Decades After Reagan Shooting

John Hinckley Jr. is once again speaking about Jodie Foster, more than 40 years after he shot President Ronald Reagan in an effort to impress the actress.

In a rare interview with the Mark Joseph Show, an exclusive preview of which was published by Entertainment Weekly, Hinckley was asked if he had any message for Foster.

His response was succinct. “I just wish Jodie Foster well, you know,” Hinckley stated. “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.”

At the age of 25, Hinckley opened fire outside the Washington Hilton Hotel on March 30, 1981, after Reagan had addressed members of the AFL-CIO. The attack resulted in four people being shot, including Reagan, White House press secretary James Brady, police officer Thomas Delahanty, and Secret Service agent Timothy McCarthy.

Reagan was injured when a bullet ricocheted off his limousine and struck him under the arm. Hinckley later revealed that his actions were linked to his obsession with Foster, who was just 18 at the time. He became fixated on her after viewing the 1976 film ‘Taxi Driver’, where Foster portrayed a young prostitute.

Hinckley believed that attempting an assassination would impress Foster and potentially lead to a relationship. During the new interview, he was asked what he envisioned would happen following the shooting.

“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,” Hinckley explained. “But I was believing those things at the time, so the best outcome would have been a union with Jodie Foster.”

He also shared that he imagined Foster might eventually come to him, regardless of whether he ended up in prison or a hospital. “I thought she would, you know, after things settled down, join me wherever I was,” he 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.”

Hinckley was found not guilty by reason of insanity in 1982 and spent over three decades in psychiatric care. He was released from court supervision in 2022. Foster has previously discussed the lasting effects of the incident. In a 2024 interview with PEOPLE, she reflected on the fear and trauma surrounding the shooting, noting that Hinckley had also sent her letters.

“I’m finally able to admit that the one bit of theater I did when I was in college, there was so much trauma involved in it,” Foster remarked.

The recent interview once again highlights one of the most unsettling chapters in Foster’s early career and the events that linked her name to the attempted assassination of a U.S. president.

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