Attempted assassination of Andy Warhol

Location| Decker Building at 33 Union Square W in New York, NY, U.S.
Date| June 3, 1968
Deaths| 0
Injured| 2
Perpetrator| Valerie Solanas
Verdict| Guilty of First-degree assault

Sentence| 3 years in prison
Judge| Supreme Court Justice Gerald T. Culkin

On June 3, 1968, the artist and filmmaker Andy Warhol was shot by the radical feminist writer Valerie Solanas at The Factory in New York City.[1]

Prior to the incident, Solanas was a bit player in the Factory scene. She wrote and self-published the SCUM Manifesto,[2] a feminist pamphlet advocating for the eradication of men, and she appeared in the Warhol film I, a Man. On the day of the attack, Solanas was turned away from the Factory after asking for the return of a script she had given to Warhol. She believed he was plotting with her publisher, Maurice Girodias, to prevent her manuscript from being published.[3] It had apparently been misplaced.[4] Solanas was subsequently diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and sentenced to three years in prison.

## Background

[edit]

In 1967, radical feminist Valerie Solanas was on a quest to have her book SCUM Manifesto published and her script Up Your Ass produced. She presented Up Your Ass to filmmaker Andy Warhol to read.[5] He glanced at it but found it so filthy that he believed she may be an undercover cop and that this was an entrapment.[5] In his book Popism (1980), Warhol recalled:

> In fact, when we'd gone to Cannes with Chelsea Girls the year before and I'd given that interview to Cahiers du Cinéma, it was Valerie Solanis [sic] I was referring to when I said, "People try to trap us sometimes. A girl called up and offered me a film script . . . and I thought the title was so wonderful, and I'm generally so friendly that I invited her to come over with it, but it was so dirty I think she must have been a lady cop. . . ."[5]

Solanas told Warhol that she needed money for her rent at the Chelsea Hotel. She accepted his invitation to appear in his film I, a Man (1967) for $25.[5] In August 1967, Solanas signed a contract with publisher Maurice Girodias for $500 as an advance on the royalties he would pay for a novel she agreed to write for him.[6][7] She invited Girodias to the screening of I, a Man, but their relationship soon deteriorated when Solanas realized that he could own both SCUM Manifesto and Up Your Ass under the terms of the contract she signed.[8] To make sense of the contract, she turned to Warhol for guidance. Warhol's lawyer Ed Katz determined that the contract had no legal standing, but Solanas refused to accept that it was invalid despite Warhol's efforts to assist her.[9][7] Solanas then focused on putting pressure on Warhol to make a movie based on the SCUM Manifesto and to stage her play Up Your Ass.[10] She would repeatedly call Warhol's studio and managed to obtain his home phone number.[10] She was paranoid that Warhol and Girodias had manipulated her and she became resentful.[10] As Girodias recalled:

> Then she got worse and worse characterwise. She didn’t want to work on the novel she was supposed to write for me. The novel was supposed to be an autobiography, a personal confession. And she began getting extremely angry with Warhol. She felt he owed her a lot of money. But there was no contract, no written papers of any sort. I kept trying to pacify her vis-à-vis Warhol. And I am sure Warhol was doing the same when she went to complain about me. She got angry at me because I would not publish her SCUM (Society for Cutting Up Men) Manifesto, and because she could not write that novel. She transferred the anger.[11]

Solanas requested that Warhol return the script for Up Your Ass that she had given him. He had left it lying around and was unable to locate it.[5] Warhol believed it may have been thrown out while he was abroad at the Cannes Film Festival. After admitting that he had misplaced the script, she began demanding money.[5] Solanas started threatening Girodias at his Olympia Press office and pressing him to publish SCUM Manifesto.[12] In January 1968, she signed a contract for him to publish the manuscript.[13] In the months that followed, she would complain to others that Warhol and Girodias had stolen from her.[14]

## Incident

[edit]

On June 3, 1968, at approximately 4:30 p.m., Andy Warhol was shot by Valerie Solanas at his studio, The Factory, located in Manhattan, New York City, on the sixth floor of the Decker Building.[15]

Solanas had visited the premises multiple times that day in search of Warhol.[7][16] In an attempt to get rid of her, Paul Morrissey, overseer of the Factory, told her that the artist would not be present all day and she could not hang around there.[7] At 4:15 p.m, Warhol arrived at the Factory and encountered Solanas who was waiting outside the building.[17] Factory assistant Jed Johnson arrived at the same time with fluorescent lights from the hardware store, and the three of them entered the building together.[15][5] As noted by Warhol in his book Popism (1980):

> It was a very hot day, and as Jed, Valerie, and I waited for the elevator. I noticed that she was wearing a fleece-lined winter coat and a high turtleneck sweater, and I thought how hot she must be—although, surprisingly, she wasn't even sweating. She was wearing pants, more like trousers (I’d never seen her in a dress), and holding a paper bag and twisting it—bouncing a little on the balls of her feet. Then I saw that there was something even more odd about her that day: when you looked close, she'd put on eye makeup and lipstick.[5]

Meanwhile, Morrissey, art critic and curator Mario Amaya, Factory photographer Billy Name, and Warhol's business manager Fred Hughes were in the studio.[5] While Warhol was on a phone call with Warhol superstar Viva, Solanas began shooting with a .32-caliber pistol.[1] She shot Warhol at close range, striking him once.[1]

At first, Amaya thought the rounds were coming through the window. He then observed the revolver in her hand, which was "like one of those you see in Dick Tracy."[1] Amaya received a flesh wound on his back, but he managed to get away and shut himself in the screening room.[5] Johnson was hiding in Warhol's office, and Solanas attempted to enter, but he was holding onto the door knob from the inside, leading her to believe it was locked.[5] Afterward, she approached the front and aimed the gun at Hughes, who pleaded, "Please! Don't shoot me! Just leave!"[5] As she contemplated shooting him, the sound of the elevator diverted her attention. It appeared that she was about to pull the trigger when the elevator doors opened and Hughes said, "There's the elevator. Just take it!" and then she fled from the building.[5]

Hughes called for the ambulance, which took over twenty minutes to arrive at the scene.[5] The shooting occurred over a month before New York City's 911 system was put into place.[18] When the paramedics eventually arrived, they were told that it would cost an extra $15 to sound the siren.[5] The paramedics chose to take Warhol down six flights of stairs in a wheelchair instead of using the elevator.[15] As Warhol and Amaya were taken to Columbus Hospital in an ambulance, Hughes and Johnson were held for questioning at the 13th Precinct police station.[19][20] They were released from police custody once Solanas surrendered to authorities later that evening.[5] Amaya was discharged from the hospital that same day after treatment for a minor back wound.[21] Warhol superstars such as Ultra Violet, Viva, Louis Waldon, Ivy Nicholson, Billy Name, and Jay Johnson, as well as art dealers Leo Castelli and Ivan Karp, gathered at the hospital to await word on Warhol's condition.[16][22][1]

Warhol was declared clinically dead, but Dr. Giuseppe Rossi massaged his heart and revived him.[23] He was hit by a single bullet, according to Dr. Massimo Bazzini, executive medical director of Columbus Hospital. "The bullet entered his belly on the left side," Bazzini stated as Warhol was undergoing surgery, "passing through the left chest, then the right chest, and out."[1] He suffered damage in his lungs, esophagus, liver, spleen, and stomach.[15] A surgical team led by Rossi operated on Warhol for six hours, giving him a 50/50 chance of life.[1] Warhol remained on the critical list in intensive care for over a week.[24][25] Only his mother, Julia Warhola, and his brothers, Paul Warhola and John Warhola, were allowed to see him; however, soon Jed Johnson, who would become Warhol's live-in boyfriend, was permitted to see him.[16] After nearly two months, Warhol was discharged from the hospital on July 28, 1968.[26]

## Arrest and legal proceedings

[edit]

Around 8 p.m. on the same day of the attack, Solanas turned herself into a policeman at the intersection of Seventh Avenue and 47th Street near Times Square.[1] Solanas told authorities she shot Warhol because "I am a flower child. He had too much control over my life."[1] While being booked at the 13th Precinct, she told reporters to read her SCUM Manifesto.[1] "That'll tell you what I am and what I stand for," she added.[1]

Solanas showed no remorse before Judge David Getzoff in Criminal Court on June 4, 1968.[27] "I have nothing to regret. I feel sorry for nothing. He was going to do something to me which would have ruined me," she said.[27] She added that there were reports that "I shot him because he wouldn't produce my play. It was for the opposite reason. He has a legal claim on my work."[27] Solanas was arraigned on a "weapons charge and two counts of attempted murder."[27] Judge Getzoff intended to quickly conduct a preliminary "psychoing" on Solanas "in view of the defendant's conduct," but no psychiatrist was present.[27] She was then ordered to be detained overnight without bail pending another hearing the following day.[27] Solanas was sent to Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan for a psychiatric examination to ascertain if she should have further testing.[27] Subsequently, she underwent psychiatric tests at Elmhurst General Hospital in Queens.[24]

Publisher Maurice Girodias summoned Irving Younger, a lawyer and a professor at New York University, and Donald S. Engel, another attorney, to represent Solanas but she rejected their assistance.[28] Additionally, she refused to accept legal representation from by a court-appointed Legal Aid Society lawyer.[28] "I don't want anybody to represent me. I could beat this thing myself," Solanas said in court.[28] However, she was represented by civil rights activist and radical feminist Florynce "Flo" Kennedy.[29]

On June 28, 1968, a grand jury indicted Solanas in the attempted murder of Warhol.[30] In August 1968, she was declared "incompetent" to stand trial because of insanity and committed to Matteawan State Hospital for the Criminally Insane.[31] After some time, she was transferred back to Matteawan, and in December 1968, a friend posted her $10,000 bail.[32]

In September 1968, it was reported that Warhol had decided not to press charges against Solanas.[33]

In December 1968, Warhol called the police when Solanas called him on Christmas Eve to coerce him into purchasing a screenplay she had written for a movie.[34] She also made threats to Girodias, Barney Rosset, Howard Hughes, and Robert Sarnoff of NBC, which led to her arrest on January 9, 1969.[35]

Solanas was diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic and spent six months in psychiatric detention. She was held at the New York Women's House of Detention in Manhattan until May 1969, and then she was transferred to Elmhurst General Hospital and Bellevue Hospital for further psychiatric tests.[36]

On June 9, 1969, Solanas pleaded guilty to first-degree assault, she stated "I didn't intend to kill him ... I just wanted him to pay attention to me. Talking to him was like talking to a chair."[3][36] She was sentenced by Supreme Court Justice Gerald T. Culkin to serve up to three years at the State Prison for Women at Bedford Hills, New York with credit for time previously served.[36] Soon after, she was sent to Matteawan to serve the remainder of her sentence. According to reports, Warhol was taken aback by the "light" sentence she received when he was contacted for comment.[36]

## Aftermath

[edit]

The National Organization for Women and other mainstream feminist organizations were divided on whether to support or condemn Solanas after she shot Warhol.[32] Her supporters, such as author Ti-Grace Atkinson and attorney Flo Kennedy, formed the foundation of radical feminism and portrayed Solanas as "a symbol of female rage." The day after the attack, Senator Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated, which further enmeshed the shooting in a broader story about gun violence.[32]

To capitalize off the publicity, Maurice Girodias had SCUM Manifesto published by Olympia Press in 1968. Solanas had self-published the book in 1967, but this was the first commercial release. Girodias admitted that had she not shot Warhol he would not have published the book because it would not have been worth it.[37]

In 1971, Solanas escaped from Matteawan State Hospital for the Criminally Insane and was recommitted months before she was released from prison. Later that year, Solanas was arrested and charged with aggravated assault for threatening Barney Rosset, editor of Evergreen Review.[38][39] Solanas underwent psychological testing and was certified as mentally ill. Years later, she spent some time as the editor of the biweekly feminist magazine Majority Report. She spent her last years in destitute and died in poverty in 1988.[32]

Warhol gifted Dr. Giuseppe Rossi, the doctor who saved his life, a $1,000 check and a complete set of 10 Campbell’s Soup II screenprints.[23] The check bounced but Rossi kept the valuable prints. After Rossi died in 2016, his family sold the prints at Christie's in New York.[23] They sold in a range from $16,250 to $37,500.[40]

### Warhol's reflections

[edit]

In September 1968, Warhol told the Associated Press that he saw "'no new Warhol' as a result of the shooting. 'Before I thought it would be fun to be dead. Now I know it's fun to be alive,'" he said.[33]

In the article "The Return of Andy Warhol," published in the November 10, 1968, issue of The New York Times Magazine, Warhol reflected on the shooting: "Since I was shot, everything is such a dream to me. I don't know what anything is about. Like I don't even know whether or not I'm really alive or—whether I died. It's sad. Like I can't say hello or goodbye to people. Life is like a dream."[41]

In a 1969 interview with Newsday, Warhol said "I don't dislike her. I don't dislike anyone. It wasn't her fault ... She wasn't responsible for what she did."[3]

He later recalled in his book The Philosophy of Andy Warhol (1975):

> "Before I was shot, I always thought that I was more half-there than all-there—I always suspected that I was watching TV instead of living life. People sometimes say that the way things happen in movies is unreal, but actually it's the way things happen in life that's unreal. The movies make emotions look so strong and real, whereas when things really do happen to you, it's like watching television—you don't feel anything. Right when I was being shot and ever since, I knew that I was watching television. The channels switch, but it's all television."[42]

### Effects on Warhol

[edit]

The shooting had a profound impact on Warhol and his art, and following his recovery, Warhol concentrated on turning the Factory into a business enterprise as regulations tightened. Warhol's boyfriend Jed Johnson aided in his recovery.[43] Johnson also installed a Dutch door and built a wall around the elevator so that guests would be buzzed in.[44] After her release, Solanas would periodically call the Factory to ask Warhol for publicity.[45] For the rest of his life, he lived in fear that she would attack him again. "It was the Cardboard Andy, not the Andy I could love and play with," said close friend and collaborator Billy Name. "He was so sensitized you couldn't put your hand on him without him jumping."[46]

Although Warhol survived the attack, it is said that the injuries he sustained accelerated his demise.[47] For the remainder of his life, Warhol experienced physical effects, such as needing to wear a surgical corset to keep his bowels in place.[47] He died following gallbladder surgery in 1987.[47]

## In pop culture

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The song "Andy's Chest" by rock musician Lou Reed is inspired by the attempted assassination of Andy Warhol. He first recorded the song in 1969 with his band the Velvet Underground. He recorded a solo version for his 1972 album Transformer.[48]

The attack is the basis for the 1996 film I Shot Andy Warhol directed by Mary Harron. The film stars Lili Taylor as Valerie Solanas and Jared Harris as Andy Warhol.[49]

The 2017 episode "Valerie Solanas Died for Your Sins: Scumbag" from the television series American Horror Story is inspired by the attack.[50] Solanas is portrayed by Lena Dunham and Warhol by Evan Peters.[50]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Behrens, David; Mann, Jack (June 4, 1968). "Andy Warhol Is Shot by Actress". Newsday (Nassau Edition). pp. 3, 62. Retrieved August 19, 2024.
2. ^ Solanas, Valerie (2004) [1967]. SCUM Manifesto. London: Verso. ISBN 978-1-85984-553-0. OCLC 53932627.
3. ^ a b c Gelmis, Joseph (June 14, 1969). "Above Ground with Andy Warhol". Newsday. pp. 15W.
4. ^ Jobey, Liz, "Solanas and Son," The Guardian (Manchester, England), August 24, 1996, p, T10 and following.
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Warhol, Andy (1980). POPism: The Warhol '60s. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. pp. 264, 270–274, 278. ISBN 978-0-15-173095-7.270-274,+278&rft.pub=Harcourt+Brace+Jovanovich&rft.date=1980&rft.isbn=978-0-15-173095-7&rft.aulast=Warhol&rft.aufirst=Andy&rft_id=http://archive.org/details/popismwarhol60s0000warh&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikipedia.org:Attempted+assassination+of+Andy+Warhol" class="Z3988">
6. ^ Fahs 2014, p. 112.
7. ^ a b c d Kaufman, Alan; Ortenberg, Neil; Rosset, Barney, eds. (2004). The Outlaw Bible of American Literature. New York: Thunder's Mouth Press. p. 203\. ISBN 978-1-56025-550-5.
8. ^ Fahs 2014, p. 113.
9. ^ Fahs 2014, p. 114-115.
10. ^ a b c Fahs 2014, p. 116.
11. ^ Fahs 2014, p. 117.
12. ^ Fahs 2014, p. 119.
13. ^ Fahs 2014, p. 120.
14. ^ Fahs 2014, p. 120-121.
15. ^ a b c d Spencer, Samuel (2022-03-10). "When and Why Andy Warhol Was Shot". Newsweek. Retrieved 2024-10-24.
16. ^ a b c Ultra Violet. (1988). Famous for 15 Minutes: My Years with Andy Warhol. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. pp. 170–174\. ISBN 978-0-15-130201-7.170-174&rft.pub=Harcourt+Brace+Jovanovich&rft.date=1988&rft.isbn=978-0-15-130201-7&rft.au=Ultra+Violet.&rft_id=https://archive.org/details/famousfor15minut00ultr_0/mode/2up&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikipedia.org:Attempted+assassination+of+Andy+Warhol" class="Z3988">
17. ^ Fahs 2014, p. 139.
18. ^ "Did the 1968 Shooting of Andy Warhol Lead to His Death 19 Years Later?". Inside Edition. 2021-10-30. Retrieved 2024-10-24.
19. ^ "Figures In Warhol Drama". Newsday (Nassau ed.). 1968-06-04. p. 32. Retrieved 2024-05-13.
20. ^ Gopnik 2020, p. 619.
21. ^ Gopnik 2020, p. 622.
22. ^ Callahan, Temo; Cashin, Tom, eds. (2005). Jed Johnson: Opulent Restraint, Interiors. New York: Rizzoli. ISBN 978-0-8478-2714-5.
23. ^ a b c "Prints gifted by Warhol to the surgeon who saved his life". Christie's. October 10, 2017.
24. ^ a b "Warhol Shows Improvement". Daily News. New York, NY. June 10, 1968. p. 14. Retrieved 2025-01-30.
25. ^ "Warhol Removed From Critical List". The Evening Sun. Baltimore, MD. June 13, 1968. p. 4. Retrieved 2025-01-30.
26. ^ "Warhol Out Of Hospital". Daily News. July 29, 1968. p. 13. Retrieved August 19, 2024.
27. ^ a b c d e f g Faso, Frank; Lee, Henry (June 5, 1968). "Actress Defiant: 'I'm Not Sorry'". Daily News. New York. p. 42.
28. ^ a b c Faso, Frank (June 6, 1968). "Valerie, Still Shouting, Gets Bellevue Test". Daily News. New York, NY. p. 25. Retrieved 2025-01-30.
29. ^ Fahs 2014, pp. 169, 197.
30. ^ "Woman Indicated in N.Y. In Warhol Shooting". The Buffalo News. June 29, 1968. p. 3.
31. ^ "Girl Who Shot Andy Warhol Ruled Insane". The San Francisco Examiner. August 17, 1968. p. 3.
32. ^ a b c d Wertheim, Bonnie (June 26, 2020). "Overlooked No More: Valerie Solanas, Radical Feminist Who Shot Andy Warho". The New York Times.
33. ^ a b Bartlett, Kay (September 20, 1968). "Superstars attend Warhol's first party since wounding". Longview Daily News. p. 16. Retrieved 2025-01-29.
34. ^ Prelutsky, Burt (March 9, 1969). "Pop Goes the Warhol". Los Angeles Times West Magazine. p. 5.
35. ^ Fahs 2014, p. 229.
36. ^ a b c d Meskil, Paul (June 10, 1969). "Warhol Gun Gal Gets 3 Yrs". Daily New. New York. p. 3.
37. ^ Fahs 2014, p. 168.
38. ^ "Brilliant, Damaged & Damaging: Revisiting Valerie Solanas, Andy Warhol's Would-Be Killer". www.out.com. Retrieved 2024-10-25.
39. ^ Sullivan, James (February 23, 2017). "'Rosset: My Life in Publishing and How I Fought Censorship'". SF Gate.
40. ^ Landes, Jennifer (November 2, 2017). "Warhol, Lichtenstein Dominate". The East Hampton Star. Retrieved 2024-10-28.
41. ^ New York Times Book of New York: Stories of the People, the Streets, and the Life of the City Past and Present. Running Press. May 20, 2009. ISBN 978-1-60376-369-1.
42. ^ Warhol, Andy (1975). The Philosophy of Andy Warhol: from A to B and back again (1st ed.). New York, NY: Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich. p. 91\. ISBN 978-0-15-189050-7.
43. ^ Gopnik 2020, pp. 645–647.
44. ^ O'Brien, Glenn (Jun–Jul 2008). "Pat Hackett". Interview. 38 (5): 106.
45. ^ Fahs 2014, p. 228.
46. ^ Drabelle, Dennis (November 16, 2003). "Making the Scene: Factory Made: Warhol and the Sixties by Steven Watson (review)". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on April 3, 2007.
47. ^ a b c Kaplan, Michael (2018-06-02). "I could have saved Andy Warhol from being shot". Retrieved 2024-10-25.
48. ^ "The Story Behind The Song: Lou Reed track 'Andy's Chest', an ode to an assassination attempt on Andy Warhol - Far Out Magazine". faroutmagazine.co.uk. 2020-08-06. Retrieved 2024-10-26.
49. ^ "Why director Mary Harron made a movie about the woman who shot Andy Warhol". CBC News. August 5, 2021.
50. ^ a b Reiher, Andrea (2017-10-18). "'American Horror Story' Recap: 'Valerie Solanas Died for Your Sins: Scumbag' Introduces Another Cult". Variety. Retrieved 2024-10-26.

## Bibliography

[edit]

* Gopnik, Blake (2020). Warhol. New York: Ecco. ISBN 978-0-06-229839-3.
* Fahs, Breanne (2014). Valerie Solanas: The Defiant Life of the Woman Who Wrote Scum (and Shot Andy Warhol). The Feminist Press. ISBN 978-155861-848-0.