Cleveland Hero Charles Ramsey Wants No Part of Hamburger Fame
Call Charles Ramsey a hero.
Call him a viral video sensation.
Just don't call him a hamburger.
Ramsey, the Cleveland man who early this month put down his hamburger to help free three kidnapped women and a little girl from a decadelong captivity, has been immortalized with his own burger.
Hodge's, a local restaurant where Ramsey worked as a dishwasher, named an eight-ounce, $12 burger for the man who became a sensation when a post-rescue video of him describing the scene went viral.
The restaurant, and several others, have also promised Ramsey burgers for life. But, through his lawyer, Ramsey said he didn't want any of that.
"Ramsey also wants everyone to know that he does not endorse the consortium of Northeast Ohio restaurants who are offering 'Ramsey Burgers' or who are promoting that Ramsey can receive free burgers from them for life," Patricia Walker, an intellectual property lawyer, said in a statement. "Ramsey encourages people to do things that will help the victims."
"I never told these people they could use my name for this," Ramsey said in a statement.
Ramsey has also objected to an online video game called Burger Bash, in which a crudely animated Ramsey and accused kidnapper Ariel Castro toss hamburgers to each other.
"I want everyone to know that I have nothing to do with this trash," Ramsey said