More than four decades after shooting President Ronald Reagan, John Hinckley Jr. has offered well wishes to actress Jodie Foster in a rare interview. Hinckley, who targeted Reagan in 1981 in a delusional attempt to impress Foster, was fully released from court restrictions in 2022 after spending decades in psychiatric care.
Reflections on a 1981 Assassination Attempt and a New Message for Jodie Foster
John Hinckley Jr. addressed Jodie Foster directly more than 45 years after his fateful attempt to gain her attention through violence. Speaking on The Mark Joseph Show podcast, the 71-year-old reflected on his past and shared a brief message for the two-time Oscar winner.
“I just wish Jodie Foster well, you know. 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.”
John Hinckley Jr., via Entertainment Weekly preview
At the time of the shooting, Foster was an 18-year-old student attending Yale University.
Inside the Delusional Expectations and the Tragic Toll at the Washington Hilton
The assassination attempt unfolded on March 30, 1981, as President Ronald Reagan exited the Washington Hilton Hotel after delivering a speech. Hinckley fired a .22-caliber revolver, striking Reagan in the chest after a bullet ricocheted off the presidential limousine. The attack punctured the president’s lung, broke a rib, and caused severe internal bleeding.
Three other men were wounded in the gunfire: Secret Service agent Timothy McCarthy, Washington police officer Thomas Delahanty, and White House Press Secretary James Brady.
During his podcast appearance, Hinckley acknowledged the distorted reality that drove his actions more than four decades ago. Host Mark Joseph pressed him on what outcome he expected after opening fire.
“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 … in this life.”
John Hinckley Jr., speaking on The Mark Joseph Show
I wasn’t sure if I was gonna be in jail or the hospital or what,
he explained. But after things settled down, I had this notion that she was gonna join me wherever I was.
He also conceded that in his disordered state, Foster herself could have been his victim instead of the president.
Psychiatric Hospitalization, Legal Freedom, and Foster’s Account of the Trauma
Following the 1981 shooting, Hinckley was tried and found not guilty by reason of insanity in 1982.
Hinckley began transitioning back into the community in 2016 when he was released to live with his mother in Williamsburg, Virginia, under strict travel and therapeutic conditions. By 2022, a federal judge granted him full freedom from court oversight, noting that he had shown no symptoms of active mental illness, violent behavior, or interest in weapons for decades.
While Hinckley has gradually built a public life that includes releasing a memoir, Foster has rarely discussed the assassination attempt.
