Hinckley, Who Shot Reagan to Impress Foster, Says He Wishes Her Well

John Hinckley Jr., who shot President Ronald Reagan in 1981 in an attempt to impress actor Jodie Foster, said this week that he wishes her well.

"I just wish Jodie Foster well, you know," Hinckley said Wednesday on the podcast "The Mark Joseph Show." "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."

Hinckley, now 71, shot Reagan as the president was leaving the Washington Hilton in 1981. Reagan survived, but former White House press secretary James Brady was paralyzed in the shooting, and Secret Service agent Timothy McCarthy and Washington police officer Thomas Delahanty were injured. Brady died in 2014.

Hinckley said at the time that he believed shooting the president would impress Foster, who was 18 years old and had risen to fame playing a child prostitute in Martin Scorsese's 1976 film "Taxi Driver." Foster later starred in "The Silence of the Lambs." Representatives for Foster did not immediately return a request for comment.

Hinckley was found not guilty by reason of insanity and spent several decades in a psychiatric hospital. He was released in 2016 to live with his elderly mother in Williamsburg, Virginia, under conditions that included therapy and travel restrictions.

A federal judge granted him full freedom from court oversight in 2022, with U.S. District Judge Paul L. Friedman noting he had shown no symptoms of active mental illness, no violent behavior and no interest in weapons since 1983.

Hinckley was 25 when he shot Reagan outside the Washington Hilton. The same hotel made news again in April after a gunman charged through security at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner, one of several attempts on President Donald Trump's life.