EXCLUSIVE - 'I'm broke bro': Cleveland kidnapping 'hero' Charles Ramsey says fame has ruined him despite being set to make $50,000 since THAT interview

Ramsey, who claimed to have saved the three women allegedly held captive by Ariel Castro for a decade, told MailOnline in an exclusive interview that he has lost his job and is homeless



Ramsey has bought himself a BMW with some of the money given to him through online donations after he claimed to have freed captive Amanda Berry

He has also scored some paid speaking engagements

But he says no one will hire him or rent him a home because of the attention he attracts and that he is now broke



The ‘hero’ who claimed to have saved the three women held captive by Ariel Castro for a decade in his Ohio home has said that his life has been ruined by fame - even though he is set to earn roughly $50,000 as a result of the attention.



In his first interview since the days after the women escaped Castro’s dungeon, Charles Ramsey told MailOnline: ‘I’m broke bro, and that’s the truth’ and said that he is homeless because no landlord wants the hassle of taking him in.

He claims he can’t hold down a job because of the attention he receives. He said when he worked in a kitchen so many customers would barge in to shake his hand that he was fired.

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Charles Ramsey, the 'hero' who claimed to have saved the three women held captive by Ariel Castro for a decade in his Ohio home has said that his life has been ruined by fame

Sources tell MailOnline, however, that Ramsey’s income in the two months since the girls escaped is around $30,000, including fees from lucrative corporate speaking engagements and $15,000 donated by well-wishers. He has been booked in for another four speaking slots and can expect his earnings to reach $50,000.

He has bought an $8,000 BMW, bragged about being rich and started a business selling T-shirts with his face on them for $25 each.

But Ramsey's former neighbors claim he exaggerated his role in the rescue of the girls.

Ramsey, 45, became an overnight celebrity in May when he claimed to have helped save Amanda Berry by prying open the door to the home in Cleveland, Ohio where she was being held when she banged on it for help.

When police arrived they discovered Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight inside as well.

Ramsey’s expletive-ridden 911 call and his colorful account of setting aside his McDonald’s meal to help went viral, while a CNN interview he gave was turned into a song by the Gregory Brothers called ‘Dead Giveaway.'

A colorful interview on CNN in the aftermath of the rescue of three women from Ariel Castro's home helped Charles Ramsey become an instant star

Charles Ramsey's old house (left) is pictured. It is next door to Ariel Castro's house (right) where three women were allegedly held captive for a decade

One oft-repeated line goes: ‘My neighbor's got big testicles because we see this dude (Castro) every day.’

But, as Ramsey tells it, his selfless act has brought him nothing but misery - even though he would do the same thing again ‘100 times over.'

A fake Charles Ramsey set up a Facebook account in his name and got 10,000 followers until the real Ramsey called in the lawyers.

A Chinese company made a video game of questionable taste in which an animated version of Ramsey throws McDonald’s hamburgers at Castro. The company had offered him a year of its Bic Mac hamburgers for free.

Despite Ramsey’s efforts to get the game banned, it's still on sale.

Since the rescue, it also emerged that Ramsey's ex-wife Rochelle divorced him alleging he beat her and didn’t pay child support.

Speaking to MailOnline, Ramsey said his life over the past two months had been a ‘rollercoaster that just hasn’t stopped yet’.

In the days after the girls escaped he moved out of his home next door to the House of Horrors because he says he did not want the attention any more, and moved into hotel outside of Cleveland.

Attempts to find permanent housing were rebuffed: at least a dozen landlords didn’t want the attention so he has supposedly been couchsurfing for weeks now.

Ramsey's expletive-ridden 911 call and his colorful account of setting aside his McDonald's meal to help went viral

In court: The three women held captive could face their alleged tormenter, Ariel Castro, in court later this year if Castro chooses to take the case to trial

Ramsey bought the BMW, which he was forced to sleep in for a few nights, paid off debts and before long the $15,000 raised for him in an online fund by well-wishers was gone.

Ramsey says that he has gone for jobs as a prep cook, restaurant worker and a dishwasher, which was his old job before he became famous.

But once word gets around of where he is working, it becomes impossible because of all the interest, even if he is out of sight of the public.

It all adds up to an unenviable paradox: Ramsey is too famous to lead a normal life, but not famous enough that he can make a career out of it, he says.



‘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.



‘Some places I don’t think I’m allowed to go back, I don’t know why, I don’t do nothing.’

He pleaded: ‘Just give me a job.

‘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.

‘It doesn’t work that way. Just pay me, that’s all.’

Mocking the tone of his critics, he added: ‘He’s rich, he’s got this. Really? I’m borrowing money from my relatives. I don’t even answer my phone anymore because [my creditor] keeps calling.

‘I don’t have the money, stop calling. That’s where we’re going. What’s going on with you Charles? I’m borrowing money. That’s the truth.’

Ramsey says those who think he has a lot of money have ‘very, very small brains’.

He said: ‘It’s just an image. [Cleveland Strangler] Anthony Sowell’s famous too but he’s not rich. You know what I mean.

‘Only a fool and his money parts. Money goes fast if you have bills.’

Ramsey dismissed the idea that he frittered away his cash: ‘I got a car, most humans do. We don’t like to walk or catch the bus, that’s what we do. Buy cars.’

And in an attempt to make some income he started his website, charlesramseylive.com, where fans can buy his T-Shirts and his version of ‘Dead Giveaway,’ which users can download through iTunes for $1.29.

Michelle Knight (left, before she was kidnapped) was 21 when she disappeared. She is pictured (right) today



Mother: Amanda Berry (left, before she was kidnapped; and right, today) has a child to Ariel Castro after he allegedly raped her while she was held captive



Heading home: Amanda Berry is pictured center with her sister, left, and daughter, right, who was fathered by Ariel Castro



Victim: Gina DeJesus was just 14-years-old (left) when she was kidnapped. Now, the bones in her neck are said to be fused together because of being held in chains



His fundraising ventures are a far cry from two months ago, when Ramsey said that any reward money should go to the girls.

Indeed, the Cleveland Courage Fund, which was set up for them has raised more than $1 million for them

Ramsey says there is a misunderstanding and draws a distinction between the $1 million and the $15,000 he was given by the public.

He said: ‘The reward money is probably millions and I bought a car. Millions. A car. Think about it, they’ve been gone 10 years so how could the reward money just be 14 grand?

Charles Ramsey is seen in a school photo. Ramsey says those who think he has a lot of money have 'very, very small brains'

‘I’ll get a proceed [of the reward money]. That’s what I’ll do. That’s why I can’t take care of that. I haven’t gotten it. I’m broke, bro. That’s the truth. [The $15,000] was a private donation.

‘That came from somebody in Zimbabwe somewhere, that’s why I’m wondering how you knew about it.’ (It was actually a well-wisher in Portland, Oregon).

One person who is not shy about talking Ramsey up is celebrity speaker agent Bruce Merrin, who got him on his books after seeing him on CNN.

On his website celebrityspeakersentertainment.com, Merrin describes Ramsey as a ‘national hero’ and says he is available for ‘speaking engagements and personal appearances.'

Merrin revealed that Ramsey has carried out different engagements in places like Washington DC, Florida and New York, with four more in the pipeline.

He was paid $7,500 for one and around $3,000 for the other two.

Merrin said that Ramsey has also made appearances for which he has not been paid, such as when the mother of a girl with cancer got in touch to ask if he would go and see her.

Merrin said: 'Charles has been absolutely marvelous to deal with.’

Back on Seymour Avenue in Cleveland, where Ramsey used to live next to Castro’s house, fame was a more fleeting affair.

Telling his side: Angel Cordero (left) said that he was the one to kick in the door to get Amanda Berry out of the house on Monday night

As the dust began to settle after the girls escaped, a Dominican man called Angel Cordero claimed that it was actually him that pulled the door open when Amanda Berry banged on it.

When he began to appear on TV to contradict Ramsey, Ramsey himself was nowhere to be seen - he had moved out.

Aurora Marti, 75, who lives directly opposite Castro’s house, told MailOnline that she was actually the first person to help and that Cordero then joined her.

Marti said that on May 6 she was outside telling her neighbor Altagracia Tejeda to take her medicine when they heard the first cries for help.

Marti went to the front door and saw Amanda and was so stunned she said in Spanish: ‘You can’t be Amanda Berry - she’s dead.'

As Marti has arthritis she could not get the door open so at that moment she called for Cordero to help.

Marti says Ramsey only showed up after Amanda was out and that she did not hug him as he claimed - she hugged a cop instead.

The key issue was that neither Marti, Cordero or Tejada speak English, so when the media scrum descended it was Ramsey that got all the attention.

Now Marti is less than amused to see what has happened.

Speaking through a friend who translated, she said: ‘Charles did nothing to help Amanda. It was me and two other people, Angel Cordero and Altagracia Tejera. I couldn't open the front door of her house because I've got arthritis.

Aurora Marti, 75, who lives directly opposite Castro¿s house, told MailOnline that she was actually the first person to help Amanda Berry on the day she was freed

‘Angel pulled it open with his hands and told Amanda how to push it open from inside, and she got out. Amanda did not use Charles' phone like he said and she did not give him a hug like he said.

‘She hugged the policeman, not him.’

Marti added that she was stunned when members of the public started arriving at Ramsey’s house to try and give him money.

She said: ‘When Angel started telling the truth Charles told him to shut up and made a threat against him.

‘Charles has been living it up, he's been drinking and smoking. He bought a new BMW and came by a few weeks ago at night telling my son that he was going to be rich. He made a T-shirt with his face on it that he was selling for $25. I told my neighbour to buy one so I could burn it.

‘He's been to Washington, New York, Florida. He's been everywhere. He's just been telling lies. He wants the money.’

Ramsey stands by his account, and told MailOnline that he often thinks about what happened that day.

He would also like to meet Amanda, Gina and Michelle but says he was told by the FBI that it was not going to happen.

He ‘loves’ all three of them and even wishes he were their father. He is haunted by not having done something sooner too.

Ramsey, who lived next door to Castro for a year, admitted that he saw the six-year-old girl Castro fathered with Amanda playing in the back yard in 2012, but presumed she was his granddaughter.

‘What I feel bad about is that our divine intervention didn’t give us a sign a year prior, is what I’m saying.

‘So if anybody should be like: "Oh my good(ness), I shouldn’t have done that" it can’t be a human to think like that. We didn’t let it happen in the first place’.

Ramsey also revealed that he would have handled the situation differently if he could and that if it were up to him he would not have called the police.

Why? Ramsey said: ‘I would take care of Ariel Castro myself. Use your imagination. If you use your imagination as much as I can you could have thrown up by now.’

As for his personal fame and all that it brings with it, Ramsey is pretty honest - he wants it both ways.

Ramsey said: ‘Would you go back to not being famous? Yes or no?

‘Of course not, no you wouldn’t, so going back as far as me being famous, of course I’m not gonna give that up.

‘You’ve only got one shot at life unless you know something different I don’t.