Battle for the Ramones: Joey’s brother sues Johnny’s widow, claims she’s exploiting the band’s legacy
Just a couple weeks ago was the 50th anniversary of NYC punk icons the Ramones‘ first show at CBGB. Sadly, none of the original members of the band who played that show are alive. Also sadly, the legacy of the band is being fought between Joey Ramone’s brother, Mitchel Hyman (aka Mickey Leigh), and Johnny Ramone’s widow, Linda Cummings-Ramone, who have equal stakes in the band’s holding company and are embroiled in a rather ugly feud for control.
The latest: Billboard reports that Leigh has sued Cummings-Ramone, accusing her of violating federal trademark law via “blatant attempts to exploit and personally capitalize on and benefit from the name, goodwill and legacy of the Ramones.”
The lawsuit, filed on August 23 in a Manhattan federal court, calls Cummings-Ramone a “former groupie” and claims she has been pushing “the false narrative that she is the heiress to … the Ramones’ legacy. She most certainly is not. She is nothing more than a blatant self-promoter and an infringer.”
Back in January, Cummings-Ramone sued Leigh over alleged secret negotiations to develop a Ramones biopic for Netflix that was based on Leigh’s memoir, I Slept With Joey Ramone, and would star and be co-written by Pete Davidson. (Three years later, the film is still listed as “in development” on IMDB.) Leigh’s new lawsuit takes particular umbridge with Linda taking “Ramone” as her surname, given that no member of the Ramones were actually born with the name — Joey’s given name was Jeffrey Ross Hyman and Johnny’s was John William Cummings.
“Ramones are unique in many ways. One of which is that they are the only band of stature where all the members were not related but used the same last name as if they were,” write Leigh’s lawyers. “That made it easy for defendant to insert herself into the Ramones legacy as part of the family, the public spokesperson, and to associate her personal brand with Ramones, by using the name ‘Linda Ramone.’ Indeed, ‘Linda Ramone’ never existed while her husband, John Cummings was alive. Defendant increasingly adopted the name ‘Linda Ramone’ after Mr. Cummings died.”
“Ms. Cummings-Ramone presents herself to the world as ‘Linda Ramone’ and unilaterally adopts the mantle of designated Ramones spokesperson and ‘keeper of the legacy’,” the lawsuit continues. “She intentionally gives the false impression that she is empowered to take the lead on, or unilaterally pursue, Ramones business.”
Cummings-Ramone has not responded publicly as of yet.
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