{"id":40835,"date":"2026-08-12T12:50:25","date_gmt":"2026-08-12T07:50:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=40835"},"modified":"2026-08-12T12:50:25","modified_gmt":"2026-08-12T07:50:25","slug":"john-hinckley-jr-shares-message-for-jodie-foster","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=40835","title":{"rendered":"John Hinckley Jr. Shares Message For Jodie Foster"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">More than four decades after attempting to assassinate President <strong>Ronald Reagan<\/strong>, <strong>John Hinckley Jr.<\/strong> has a message for <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/theblast.com\/tag\/jodie-foster\/\">Jodie Foster<\/a><\/strong>, the woman he was trying to impress at the time. Hinckley became obsessed with the actress after watching her in the 1976 film \u201cTaxi Driver,\u201d ultimately carrying out the 1981 shooting in an attempt to gain her attention. <\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-medium_large caption_belowImage credit_onImage mobile-image-full-width\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"768\" height=\"960\" src=\"https:\/\/media.theblast.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/width=768%2Cheight=960%2Cfit=crop%2Cquality=75%2Cgravity=auto%2Csharpen=1%2Cmetadata=none%2Cformat=auto%2Conerror=redirect\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/jodie-foster-1-768x960.jpg\" alt=\"Jodie Foster at 30th Annual Critics' Choice Awards\" class=\"wp-image-749569\" srcset=\"https:\/\/media.theblast.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/width=819%2Cheight=1024%2Cfit=crop%2Cquality=75%2Cgravity=auto%2Csharpen=1%2Cmetadata=none%2Cformat=auto%2Conerror=redirect\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/jodie-foster-1-819x1024.jpg 819w, https:\/\/media.theblast.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/width=768%2Cheight=960%2Cfit=crop%2Cquality=75%2Cgravity=auto%2Csharpen=1%2Cmetadata=none%2Cformat=auto%2Conerror=redirect\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/jodie-foster-1-768x960.jpg 768w, https:\/\/media.theblast.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/width=240%2Cheight=300%2Cfit=crop%2Cquality=75%2Cgravity=auto%2Csharpen=1%2Cmetadata=none%2Cformat=auto%2Conerror=redirect\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/jodie-foster-1-240x300.jpg 240w, https:\/\/media.theblast.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/width=428%2Cquality=75%2Cgravity=auto%2Csharpen=1%2Cmetadata=none%2Cformat=auto%2Conerror=redirect\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/jodie-foster-1-scaled.jpg 428w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 430px) 100px, 100vw\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Xavier Collin\/Image Press Agency \/ MEGA <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">John Hinckley Jr. became infamous for his assassination attempt at President Ronald Reagan in 1981, all to impress a young Jodie Foster. The 71-year-old is reflecting on his past in a rare interview, and he has a message for the actress.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI just wish Jodie Foster well, you know. I don\u2019t really see her movies, but I wish her well, and I know she\u2019s doing quite well. And that\u2019s all I can say is just, I wish Jodie well, and I hope she has a good life,\u201d Hinckley said in a preview clip of an episode of \u201cThe Mark Joseph Show,\u201d per <em><a href=\"https:\/\/ew.com\/john-hinckley-jr-shares-a-message-for-jodie-foster-in-rare-interview-12053383\">Entertainment Weekly<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Hinckley had been obsessed with Foster for several months before the shooting and even relocated to Connecticut upon learning that the actress was enrolled at Yale University. He repeatedly attempted to contact her, sending letters and poems that he slipped under her door.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Foster, who was 18 at the time, rejected his advances and set firm boundaries.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"h-the-shooter-wanted-to-have-a-union-with-the-actress\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Shooter Wanted To Have A \u2018Union\u2019 With The Actress<\/h2>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-x wp-block-embed-x\"\/>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">During the interview, Hinckley was asked what his intended outcome of the assassination was. Noting he was \u201cdelusional\u201d at the time of the incident, he said he wanted to \u201chave a union\u201d with the actress and live the rest of his life with her.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Joseph argued that he would have known that prison was a possibility, but Hinckley said in his mind, Foster would be with him, wherever that may be. \u201cI wasn\u2019t 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,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Moreover, he shared that Foster could also have been his target, but said \u201cfate\u201d had other plans, and Reagan became his intended target instead.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"h-inside-the-1981-attempted-assassination-of-ronald-reagan\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Inside The 1981 Attempted Assassination Of Ronald Reagan<\/h2>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-x wp-block-embed-x\"\/>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On March 30, 1981, Reagan was at the Washington Hilton Hotel to deliver a speech to a labor union group. As the president exited the hotel and walked to his awaiting limousine, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ebsco.com\/research-starters\/history\/hinckley-attempts-assassinate-president-reagan\">Hinckley opened fire<\/a>. One bullet ricocheted off the armor plate on the presidential vehicle and hit Reagan, puncturing his lung and narrowly missing his heart.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Three other people were injured, including the press secretary, a Secret Service agent, and a police officer. Reagan was rushed to a hospital where he underwent emergency surgery.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In 1982, Hinckley was found not guilty by reason of insanity. Psychiatric experts testified that he had major depression and was diagnosed with schizotypal personality disorder, borderline personality disorder, and narcissistic traits.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He was sent to a psychiatric facility where he underwent long-term treatment. He was released from the hospital under strict supervision in 2016, and restrictions were fully lifted in 2022.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"h-hinckley-wrote-a-final-letter-to-jodie-foster-before-the-shooting\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Hinckley Wrote A Final Letter To Jodie Foster Before The Shooting<\/h2>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Young Jodie Foster <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/JKfcCruvtO\">pic.twitter.com\/JKfcCruvtO<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 \u2013 (@xxxx90s) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/xxxx90s\/status\/709825414194188288?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">March 15, 2016<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">FBI agents discovered a letter the shooter wrote to Foster before the attempted assassination. It was never sent, however, and was left in his hotel room. He told her his plan \u201cto get Reagan\u201d and confessed his undying love for her.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Hinckley said that he left \u201cdozens of poems, letters and love messages,\u201d hoping Foster would like him in return, but said he never approached her directly because he was shy and didn\u2019t want to be bothersome. He took comfort in the fact that the actress, at least, knew his name and his feelings for her.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cAt least you know that I\u2019ll always love you. Jodie, I would abandon the idea of getting Reagan in a second if I could only win your heart and live out the rest of my life with you, whether it be in total obscurity or whatever,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.famous-trials.com\/johnhinckley\/533-letter\">he wrote<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Hinckley said Foster was the reason for the assassination, as he wanted to \u201cimpress\u201d her, and he was willing to sacrifice his freedom or his life to change the actress\u2019 mind about him. He signed off, writing, \u201cI love you forever.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"h-john-hinckley-jr-s-theory-about-jodie-foster\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">John Hinckley Jr.\u2019s Theory About Jodie Foster<\/h2>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-medium_large caption_belowImage credit_onImage mobile-image-full-width\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"768\" height=\"1168\" src=\"https:\/\/media.theblast.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/width=768%2Cheight=1168%2Cfit=crop%2Cquality=75%2Cgravity=auto%2Csharpen=1%2Cmetadata=none%2Cformat=auto%2Conerror=redirect\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/jodie-foster-5-768x1168.jpg\" alt=\"Jodie Foster attends the ''Annette'' screening and opening ceremony during the 74th annual Cannes Film Festival on July 6, 2021 in Cannes\" class=\"wp-image-607035\" srcset=\"https:\/\/media.theblast.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/width=1010%2Cheight=1536%2Cfit=crop%2Cquality=75%2Cgravity=auto%2Csharpen=1%2Cmetadata=none%2Cformat=auto%2Conerror=redirect\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/jodie-foster-5-1010x1536.jpg 1010w, https:\/\/media.theblast.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/width=768%2Cheight=1168%2Cfit=crop%2Cquality=75%2Cgravity=auto%2Csharpen=1%2Cmetadata=none%2Cformat=auto%2Conerror=redirect\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/jodie-foster-5-768x1168.jpg 768w, https:\/\/media.theblast.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/width=674%2Cheight=1024%2Cfit=crop%2Cquality=75%2Cgravity=auto%2Csharpen=1%2Cmetadata=none%2Cformat=auto%2Conerror=redirect\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/jodie-foster-5-674x1024.jpg 674w, https:\/\/media.theblast.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/width=197%2Cheight=300%2Cfit=crop%2Cquality=75%2Cgravity=auto%2Csharpen=1%2Cmetadata=none%2Cformat=auto%2Conerror=redirect\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/jodie-foster-5-197x300.jpg 197w, https:\/\/media.theblast.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/width=428%2Cquality=75%2Cgravity=auto%2Csharpen=1%2Cmetadata=none%2Cformat=auto%2Conerror=redirect\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/jodie-foster-5-scaled.jpg 428w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 430px) 100px, 100vw\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">MEGA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In January, shortly after the release of his memoir, Hinckley shared his theory about Foster, saying that his obsession and assassination attempt on Reagan deeply traumatized the actress, that she no longer wanted to be with men and became a lesbian, as <em><a href=\"https:\/\/theblast.com\/762217\/reagan-shooter-john-hinckley-jr-wild-theory-jodie-foster\/\">The Blast<\/a><\/em> previously reported.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Foster addressed her sexuality publicly in 2013 at the Golden Globe Awards, saying that she already came out to her family and close friends \u201cabout a thousand years ago.\u201d <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The actress has rarely talked about Hinckley in the years since the attempted assassination.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>More than four decades after attempting to assassinate President Ronald Reagan, John Hinckley Jr. has a message for Jodie Foster, the woman he was trying to impress at the time. Hinckley became obsessed with the actress after watching her in the 1976 film \u201cTaxi Driver,\u201d ultimately carrying out the 1981 shooting in an attempt to&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":40836,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/media.theblast.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Screening-Of-aposA-Private-Lifeapos-MEGA1377089_005-scaled-1200x675.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-40835","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-celebrity-gossip"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40835","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=40835"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40835\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/40836"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=40835"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=40835"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=40835"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}