John Hinckley Jr.the man who attempted to murder Ronald Reaganis convinced that he is the reason Jodie Foster is sexually attracted to other women.
John tells TMZ he has a theory that his failed assassination attempt on Reagan in 1981 traumatized Jodie to the point that she turned away from men and became a lesbian. He believes Jodie’s trauma also comes from the fact that he led her to his assassination attempt with his public fascination with her.
He says Jodie was dating men in the early 1980s and only became a lesbian in the years after her attempt to take down Reagan. Jodie first publicly came out as gay at the 2013 Golden Globes Awards. John says it’s the first time he’s publicly revealed the theory as he promotes his new memoir, “John Hinckley Jr.: Who I Really Am.”
John says he was obsessed with Jodie since 1976, when he saw her in the movie “Taxi Driver”…and when she was studying at Yale University, he would go to the university registrar’s office and get her dorm number and her phone number, and call her and slip poems under her door.
He says he never asked Jodie out 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 addicted to Jodi and “Taxi Driver” … and he thought of himself as the movie’s Travis Bickle, the character who wants to shoot a presidential candidate after being rejected by his love interest.
In the film, Travis doesn’t 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 this in real life… and said he thought if he shot Reagan, he could convince Jodie… so he took a bus from Los Angeles to Washington, DC in March 1981 to assassinate Reagan.
He says he sold two .38 caliber guns to pay for his bus fare and lodging in Washington…and went to the Hilton Hotel, where Reagan was giving a speech, armed with a .22 caliber revolver.
John was in the crowd outside when Reagan and his entourage arrived…and he thought Reagan was waving at him, which surprised 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 fired six shots in a matter of seconds…wounding Reagan, a police officer. Thomas Delahantysecret service agent Tim McCarthy and White House Press Secretary James Brady.
John says he thought he was going to be killed by the Secret Service… but the crowd turned on him, jumped him and beat him until the SS handcuffed him and took him to prison.
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 returned its correct verdict.
John says he’s been taking antidepressants for many years…and currently he’s voluntarily taking Zoloft and Risperdal for his anxiety.
We reached out to Jodie’s camp…they declined to comment.