Charles Ramsey Homeless & Broke After Saving Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michele Knight, He Says [VIDEO]
Charles Ramsey became a national hero for rescuing three Cleveland women from a decade of captivity but now, two months after he made headlines, he claims he is poor and homeless.
Ramsey bought himself an $8,000 BMW with some of the money given to him through online donations after he claimed to have helped free captives Amanda Berry, Gine DeJesus and Michele Knight. The Daily Mail cited sources that said Ramsey has made around $30,000 over the last two months largely from "corporate speaking engagements" and $15,000 raised by private individuals as a reward for helping the kidnapping victims. He was also offered free burgers for life.
However, Ramsey tells a different tale.
"I'm broke, bro," he told Mail Online. "That's the truth."
Ramsey said he was fired from his job working in a kitchen because customers kept coming in to meet the hero and shake his hand. No one will hire him because of the attention he attracts. He was then "shamed" out of his Cleveland, Ohio, home next to alleged kidnapper Ariel Castro by his neighbors "who claim he exaggerated his role in the rescue of the girls," the report stated.
Ramsey said fame ruined his life, even though he would do the selfless act "100 times over." His life over the past two months had been a "rollercoaster that just hasn't stopped yet."
The 45-year-old was known around the nation beginning in May when he claimed to have helped Berry open the door to Castro's home when she banged on it for help. Police at the scene discovered DeJesus and Knight inside Castro's home as well. Ramsey's expletive-ridden 911 call and his story of putting down his McDonald's meal to help Berry went viral, and his interview with CNN was turned into a song by the Gregory Brothers called Dead Giveaway.
About being allegedly "broke," Ramsey said, "Money goes fast if you have bills." Regarding buying the expensive BMW, he said, "I got a car, most humans do. We don't like to walk or catch the bus, that's what we do. Buy cars."
"I don't have an address, I don't live anywhere. I go from house to house, to friend to friend, to family member to family member," he said. "What I've been doing for the past four weeks is wearing out my welcome with everybody who knows me."
"Just give me a job," he pleaded. "All my jobs I ask for are in the kitchen so I'm not even in the front of the house, so you won't even see me. I'm behind a wall somewhere. Just pay me, that's all."
To make some money, Ramsey started a business selling T-shirts on charlesramseylive.com with his face on them for $25 each. His version of Dead Giveaway can also be bought on iTunes for $1.29.
Since the rescue, it was revealed that Ramsey's estranged wife Rochelle divorced him alleging he beat her and did not pay child support.
Ramsey denied the notion that he wastes his money: "I'm borrowing money from my relatives. I don't even answer my phone anymore because [my creditor] keeps calling."
Ramsey said those who think he has a lot of money have "very, very small brains."