John Hinckley Jr. Says He Doesn’t Watch Jodie Foster’s Movies 45 Years After Reagan Assassination Attempt

More than four decades after John Hinckley Jr. tried to impress Jodie Foster by shooting former president Ronald Reagan, he only wants the best for her.

In an upcoming appearance on The Mark Joseph Show, per a report from Entertainment Weekly, Hinckley, 71, was asked about Foster, 63, and said he harbors no ill will toward the Oscar winner.

“I just wish Jodie Foster well,” he explained. “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: I just, I wish Jodie well, and I hope she has a good life.”

Hinckley was 25 when he attempted to assassinate Reagan outside the Washington Hilton hotel on March 30, 1981. He fired six shots at the president as he exited the building after giving a speech.

Reagan was struck in the chest by a bullet that ricocheted off the presidential limousine and punctured his lung, but he recovered after undergoing emergency surgery. White House Press Secretary James Brady, Secret Service agent Timothy McCarthy, and Washington police officer Thomas Delahanty were also wounded in the attack.

Investigators later determined that Hinckley had become obsessed with Foster after repeatedly watching her performance as a child prostitute in the 1976 movie Taxi Driver. In the film, Robert De Niro‘s character, Travis Bickle, became obsessed with a campaign worker played by Cybill Shepherd. After rejecting him, Travis planned to assassinate the fictional presidential candidate Senator Charles Palantine.

Hinckley later admitted he was influenced by the film and he was found not guilty by reason of insanity and spent more than 30 years at St. Elizabeths Hospital in Washington, D.C., before he was eventually released from court supervision in 2022.