“Shut up or shut up,” former congressman George Santos likes to tell his haters. Now he adds late-night host Jimmy Kimmel to that list.
The ousted Republican filed a civil lawsuit against Kimmel on Saturday, claiming the comedian misused Santos' cameo videos by catfishing him and then using the videos for fun on his show Jimmy Kimmel Live! have broadcast.
She accuses Kimmel of violating Cameo's terms of service, committing fraud and copyright infringement. Ironically, the congressman who was kicked out of the House for fraud is now accusing the late-night host of the same offense.
According to the lawsuit, Kimmel “misrepresented himself and his motives” in order to get Santos “to produce personalized videos for the sole purpose of exploiting and ridiculing Santos' “gregarious personality.” He previously sent a cease and desist letter to Kimmel in December over the cameo pranks.
After being removed from the House of Representatives, Santos opened a highly lucrative account on Cameo, a video-sharing platform that allows users to purchase personalized videos from public figures. He bragged about making up to $400 per video, telling CBS it was “more money in seven days than I made in a year in Congress.” The lawsuit cites 14 “fake requests” that Kimmel sent to Santos requesting videos using false names and narratives.
Kimmel also joked about the possibility of being sued by Santos during an episode of his show in December.
“Could you imagine George Santos suing me for fraud? I mean, how good would that be? It would be like a dream come true,” Kimmel said. “Since I started buying his videos, his prices have gone up to $500 a piece. He should thank me for buying these videos.”
The lawsuit also names Kimmel's broadcaster ABC and its parent company Disney as defendants. He is seeking at least $750,000 in damages.