Ronald Reagan’s Would-Be Assassin
I Turned Jodie Foster Lesbian
Published
January 15, 2026
1:00 AM PST
John Hinckley Jr., the man who tried to assassinate Ronald Reagan, is convinced he’s the reason Jodie Foster is sexually attracted to other women.
John tells TMZ he has a theory that his failed Reagan assassination attempt in 1981 traumatized Jodie to the point where she turned away from men and became a lesbian. He believes Jodie’s trauma also stemmed from him bringing her into his assassination attempt with his public fascination of her.
He says Jodie was dating men in the early 1980s and only became a lesbian in the years after he tried to shoot Reagan dead. Jodie first came out publicly as gay during the 2013 Golden Globes Awards. John says this is the first time he’s ever revealed this theory publicly as he promotes his new memoir, “John Hinckley Jr.: Who I Really Am.”
John says he was obsessed with Jodie ever since 1976, when he saw her in the film “Taxi Driver” … and when she was attending Yale University, he went to the college registrar’s office and got her dorm number and phone number, and would call her and slip poems under her door.
He says he never asked Jodie out on a date because she didn’t seem interested … and in his depression, delusion and obsession, he thought he “could impress Jodie by killing the president.”
John says he was hung up on Jodi and “Taxi Driver” … and he saw himself as Travis Bickle from the movie, the character who wants to shoot a presidential candidate after being spurned by his love interest.
In the movie, Travis does not shoot the candidate … instead, he ends up as a local hero for killing the men exploiting Jodie’s character, Iris, a young prostitute … and his love interest seems impressed.
John tried to recreate that in real life … and says he thought if he shot Reagan, he could win over Jodie … so he took a bus from Los Angeles to Washington, D.C. in March 1981 on a mission to assassinate Reagan.
He says he sold two .38 caliber guns to pay for his bus ticket and D.C. lodging … and he went to the Hilton Hotel, where Reagan was giving a speech, armed with a .22 caliber revolver.
John was in a crowd outside when Reagan and his entourage arrived … and he thought Reagan was waving at him, which startled him before he waved back.
He says he waited for Reagan to leave after the speech … and when RR walked past him, he brandished his revolver and squeezed off six shots within seconds … wounding Reagan, police officer Thomas Delahanty, Secret Service agent Tim McCarthy and White House Press Secretary James Brady.
John says he thought he would be killed by the Secret Service … but the crowd turned on him, jumping on him and beating him up until the SS cuffed him and took him to jail.
He was found not guilty by reason of insanity and sent to a mental institution for over 30 years … and John tells us the jury got his verdict correct.
John says he’s been on anti-depressants for many years … and, currently, he’s voluntarily taking Zoloft and Risperdal for anxiety.
We reached out to Jodie’s camp … they declined to comment.
