Former Representative George Santos filed a federal lawsuit against late night TV host Jimmy Kimmel on Saturday, alleging that Kimmel deceptively obtained Cameo videos of him which he then aired on his ABC talk show.
Santos, a New York Republican, was expelled from the House in early December 2023 following a scathing House Ethics Committee report, in which the then-congressman was accused of using his campaign funds for personal use, engaging in “fraudulent conduct” and filing “false or incomplete reports” to the Federal Election Commission (FEC) while running for office in 2022. Santos, meanwhile, has maintained his innocence and pleaded not guilty to charges related to a federal criminal investigation.
After he was ousted, Santos turned to Cameo, an app where celebrities can sell personalized videos. For a segment on his show Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Kimmel submitted at least 14 video requests for Santos under fake names, according to Santos’ lawsuit filed in Manhattan federal court. Kimmel then shared clips Santos sent him on his show last December in a segment titled, “Will Santos Say It?”
“I didn’t say they were from me. I just wrote them and sent them to find out ‘Will Santos Say It,'” Kimmel said on his show.
Santos is not only suing Kimmel, but ABC and its parent company Disney for copyright infringement, fraudulent inducement, breach of contract and unjust enrichment. The ex-congressman is seeking $150,000 per infringement for statutory damages.
Newsweek reached out to Jimmy Kimmel Live! and Disney via email for comment.
Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images
The suit claimed that the defendants “reproduced, distributed, and publicly displayed” five Cameo videos that Santos created on Kimmel’s show and social media without Santos’ permission.
Santos also alleged that Kimmel “misrepresented himself and his motives to induce” the ex-congressman to make the video content “for the sole purpose of capitalizing on and ridiculing [Santos’] gregarious personality.”
Andrew Mancilla, Santos’ lawyer, told Newsweek via email on Saturday: “Kimmel didn’t need to commit fraud and copyright infringement to make people laugh.”
The suit also alleged that “Kimmel not only boasted about intentionally deceiving [Santos], but played on the comedic irony of possibly getting sued by [Santos] for fraud, claiming that it would be a ‘dream come true.'”
On December 11, 2023, Kimmel told his audience during a show a few days after he aired Santos’ videos: “Yeah so now this Cameo thing, according to George, is really paying off. He claims he’s made more money in seven days than he did in Congress for a year. And part of that money came from me.
“I sent him a bunch of crazy video requests because I wanted to see what he would read and what he wouldn’t read, and I showed some of them on the air on Thursday, and now he’s demanding $20,000 from me to be paid a commercial rate. Could you imagine if I get sued by George Santos for a fraud? I mean how good would that be? It would be like a dream come true.”
Following Kimmel’s claims, Santos told the New York Post on December 13, “Let Jimmy Kimmel be Jimmy Kimmel. He’s full of s***, that’s all.”
He added: “He owes me a lot more than [$20,000]. Reading the terms and conditions for cameos Kimmel is just trying to deflect. I’m doing very well. I’m making six figures.”
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.