Overview
- John Hinckley Jr. told the Mark Joseph Show in a preview published Wednesday that he “just wish[es] Jodie Foster well,” said he does not regularly watch her films, and offered the remark ahead of the full episode’s release.
- Hinckley reaffirmed his longtime claim that he carried out the March 30, 1981, shooting to try to impress Foster and said he believed a ‘union’ with her was the best outcome of his delusions.
- He remains fully free from court oversight after a 2016 conditional release and a 2022 federal ruling that removed restrictions following decades of psychiatric care and Judge Paul L. Friedman’s finding of no active symptoms since the 1980s.
- The 1981 attack wounded President Ronald Reagan and three others, including press secretary James Brady, who was left permanently disabled and later died in 2014, and Foster has not issued a new public response to Hinckley’s remarks.
- Hinckley’s media appearances and attempts at a public music career have provoked canceled events and public backlash, and this interview is likely to renew discussion about the insanity verdict, survivor trauma, and how to handle high‑profile releases.