After his upcoming concert was called off, folk singer John Hinckley Jr. is claiming he’s a victim of cancel culture. To his 36,000 YouTube subscribers, Hinckley is a creative, but to the masses at large, he’s widely known as President Ronald Reagan‘s failed assassin. The incidents on March 30, 1981, still haunt Hinckley, who claims they’ve left a permanent stain on his music career.
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“They book me and then the show gets announced and then the venue starts getting backlash,” Hinckley explained in a New York Post interview. At this point, Hinckley said he doesn’t “really get upset” anymore by the bad news because “the owners always cave.”
“They cancel. It’s happened so many times, it’s kinda what I expect,” he said.
Hinckley was originally scheduled to perform on March 30 at the Hotel Huxley in Connecticut, but his set has since been canceled. Hotel Huxley alerted fans of the news via an Instagram post, writing, “You Guessed It: Postponed Until Further Notice (They’re killin us here.)”
Though some were bummed, many users took umbrage with the venue’s decision to even host Hinckley in the first place.
“No, really. Imagine that, a guy who tried to assassinate a president… can’t get a gig. Crazy,” one person wrote on the post.
“Shut the dump down! What a slap in the face! Not in our community!” reads a comment on the original concert announcement. “Supporting a guy who tried to take out a US President! Think about that for a minute,” cried another.
As for why his gigs keep getting called off, Hinckley told the New York Post it’s fairly obvious: “Owners don’t want the controversy.” It’s not just in Connecticut; he’s had shows canned in New York, Georgia, Chicago, and Virginia.
“I think that’s fair to say: I’m a victim of cancel culture,” Hinckley stated. “It keeps happening over and over again.”
On X, he doubled down on his beliefs. “With all of my concerts canceled, it’s a fair statement to say I’m a victim of cancel culture!” he wrote.
Hinckley spent 34 years in a Washington, D.C. psychiatric hospital, after he shot and wounded Reagan, White House press secretary James Brady, officer Tom Delahanty, and Secret Service agent Tim McCarthy, according to Virginia-local TV station Wavy-TV. He was deemed not guilty by reason of insanity.
“I was a mixed up, confused 25-year-old,” Hinckley told Wavy-TV of the attempted assassination. “I was dropping in and out of college. I was isolated from my family, isolated from God; I was living on my own and not doing well at all.”
“I always thought he was a great man,” Hinckley continued. “It was all just a delusional thing I had going on in my head that led me to President Reagan.” The attack was also fueled by Hinckley’s growing obsession with actor Jodie Foster and her role in 1976’s Taxi Driver.
“I’m very sorry, I have tremendous remorse for what I did in 1981,” Hinckley acknowledged.