What happened to Abbie Hoffman from Chicago 7? How did he live his life after the trial

The Trial of the Chicago 7 ending does conclude the film on a conclusive note but it leaves the audience with a number of questions. Since the characters of the film have been based out of real-life and it features an extended list of cast members, viewers who watched the film on Netflix may be intrigued to know what happened to the real-life counterpart of these characters. Read below to know what happened to Abbie Hoffman from the Chicago 7 film -

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What happened to Abbie Hoffman from the Chicago 7 film?

The testimony of Abbie Hoffman has made it to the public record in the USA. Thus, people can easily access a transcript on various websites like 'Famous Trials'. In the testimony, Hoffman regarded himself as the star of the Woodstock Nation. Abbie Hoffman in the Chicago 7 trial itself gained a lot of media coverage which allowed him to stay relevant for a couple of years after the trial had come to an end. Abbie rode the wave of fame till 1973 when he was arrested for the sale of controlled substances. Hoffman was held along with four others on charges of selling drugs. 

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According to Vanity Fair, Hoffman had then stated that he was subjected to entrapment and ended up walking out of the charges. Later on, Abbie went to extreme lengths to maintain his incognito status and not be subjected to media scrutiny in any manner, thus, got cosmetic surgery and started living off with his family under a different name, Barry Freed. But things only went downhill from there. 

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Hoffman served jail time in 1980 for a year and then got arrested again in 1986. Abbie continued with his writing and ended up writing the book 'Steal This Urine Test' which was a guide for passing a drug-related urine test every time. However, Hoffman had already received a diagnosis for bipolar disorder in 1980. The bipolar disorder eventually led to Hoffman falling into severe depression. In April 1989, Hoffman was declared dead after an apparent suicide because of an overdose. Though many were suspicious around the nature of his death, the police report of Hoffman committing suicide was ruled out to be conclusive. 

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