John Hinckley Jr. Shares New Message For Jodie Foster 45 Years After Shooting Ronald Reagan To Impress Her

Some Hollywood stories fade with time. The disturbing history connecting Jodie Foster and John Hinckley Jr. is not one of them. For those who don’t know, on March 30, 1981, Hinckley waited outside the Washington Hilton in Washington, D.C., where President Ronald Reagan had just addressed 5,000 members of the AFL-CIO.

As Reagan emerged from the hotel, Hinckley fired six shots from a revolver. One bullet ricocheted off Reagan’s limousine and struck him beneath his arm. White House Press Secretary James Brady, police officer Thomas Delahanty and Secret Service agent Timothy McCarthy were also wounded.

Hinckley was brought to the ground moments later. He was tried in federal court on 13 charges and found not guilty by reason of insanity.

He has since expressed remorse for the people he wounded:

“I know [the victims] probably can't forgive me now, but I just want them to know that I am sorry for what I did.”

Reagan survived and spent 12 days in the hospital before returning to the White House. He completed two terms as president and died on June 5, 2004, at age 93, more than two decades later.

But the story gets darker when Hinckley reveals his motive in an upcoming interview for The Mark Joseph Show:

“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.”

That’s right—the motive behind the assassination attempt was Hinckley’s obsession with Foster, who was just 18 years old and attending Yale University at the time. Already a celebrated young actor, Foster had starred in films including Taxi Driver and Freaky Friday.

Hinckley described how far that delusion went:

“I thought she would, you know, after things settled down, join me wherever I was. 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.”

And he had gone to disturbing lengths to pursue that fantasy.

When Foster began college in 1980, the then-25-year-old Hinckley moved to New Haven, Connecticut, to be closer to her. He sent letters, poems, and notes to her campus mailbox, called her, and repeatedly tried to make contact.

The future two-time Oscar winner wanted nothing to do with Hinckley and attempted to avoid him. As his efforts failed, his fixation escalated. Hinckley eventually turned his attention to U.S. presidents, believing an act of violence could capture Foster’s attention.

Hinckley even admitted Foster herself could have become his target:

“As fate turns out, it was Reagan instead of her.”

Hinckley spent more than three decades at St. Elizabeths Hospital in Washington, D.C., before leaving the psychiatric facility. In 2022, he was freed from court supervision and the remaining restrictions on his life.

The Oklahoma native did wish Fisher creepily well:

“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.”

Forty-five years later, it’s an unsettling message considering the history behind it.

You can watch that portion of Hinckley’s interview below:

The full interview is available on The Mark Joseph Show. Joseph also produced the 2024 film Reagan, starring Dennis Quaid as the former president alongside Penelope Ann Miller and Jon Voight. A director’s cut arrives in theaters September 25.

Needless to say, social media had plenty to unpack after Hinckley’s latest message to Foster:

But while Hinckley can look back on the assassination attempt, Foster has spoken about the trauma she experienced in its aftermath.

The Nyad star recalled to People how the shooting affected her college years:

“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. 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.”

Hinckley may now call his thinking delusional, but Foster lived with the very real consequences of it during a chapter that followed her beyond college.