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

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.

In 1967, radical feminist Valerie Solanas was on a quest to have her book SCUM Manifesto published and her script Up Your Ass produced.

[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.

[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.

[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.

[14] 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.

[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.

[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.

[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] 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.

[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.

[15] A surgical team led by Rossi operated on Warhol for six hours, giving him a 50/50 chance of life.

[26] 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.

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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.

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.

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.

[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.

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.