George Santos sued late-night TV host Jimmy Kimmel on Saturday, accusing Kimmel of hiding his identity while soliciting videos from the disgraced ex-congressman on the celebrity video-sharing service Cameo Kimmel then used it to mock Santos on air.
Kimmel revealed in December that he had pranked Santos by sending him fictitious requests on Cameo, which allows users to request short greeting videos from celebrities and well-known figures. Kimmel, who reportedly used accounts not under his real name, asked Santos to talk about several bizarre topics, including congratulating a blind woman on passing a driving test and praising a man for winning an eating contest, after devouring six pounds of ground beef.
Santos obeyed, unaware that Kimmel was the recipient, and Kimmel aired the videos on his late-night talk show in December in a segment titled “Will Santos Say It?”
Santos claimed in New York federal court on Saturday that Kimmel and his show's producers, ABC and Disney, committed copyright infringement by airing the cameo videos they requested, which he argued were owned by Santos and are not licensed for broadcast on national television. He also claimed that Kimmel committed fraud by creating fake profiles on Cameo to commission Santos videos.
Cameo's terms of service state that videos on the platform are licensed, not sold, and that a personal license grants a recipient limited rights to use a requested video for non-commercial and non-promotional purposes. Cameo's community guidelines state that users are not allowed to log in using false identities.
Andrew Mancilla, a lawyer for Santos, said in a statement to The Washington Post that Kimmel's humor was “based on manipulation and exploitation.”
Kimmel, ABC and Disney did not immediately respond to a request for comment Sunday evening.
On a show in December, days after Kimmel began sharing the Cameo videos he requested, the late-night host said Santos asked for a payment of $20,000 after Kimmel aired his videos. Kimmel seemed to hold out the prospect of a lawsuit from the former congressman.
“Can you imagine George Santos suing me for fraud?” Kimmel said to a laughing studio audience. “How good would that be?”
Santos, who took on a second role as a flamboyant social media personality after being expelled from the House of Representatives for a series of alleged crimes and falsehoods and described himself on Cameo as a “former congressional 'icon',” has received requests to troll senators , send valentines and sing Taylor Swift songs.
The move was lucrative for Santos, who is negotiating a settlement of 23 federal charges, including fraud and money laundering. Santos has sold 1,200 of the videos, charging $350 each, he told CNN in February.
For $350, George Santos will congratulate, cheer, or troll you
Kimmel said on his show that he wanted to see how far Santos would go in satisfying bizarre video requests. According to Santos' lawsuit, he sent 14 requests to Santos in early December, all of which Santos responded with videos.
Kimmel aired five cameo videos of Santos on two shows in early December. In one video, Santos enthusiastically congratulated a mother on cloning her schnauzer dog. In another case, his husband apologized to his wife for burning down a shed with fireworks while trying to scare away a bear.
Kimmel said on air that he would continue to release more cameos from Santos. But he failed to do so after Santos' lawyers sent Kimmel a cease-and-desist letter on Dec. 12, Santos' lawsuit says. Santos also demanded that Kimmel and his producers remove clips from the show that they posted online, which they refused to do, according to the lawsuit.
Santos' lawsuit alleged that Kimmel requested the cameo videos from Santos under a personal use license that prohibits them from being used for commercial or promotional purposes. Santos also registered his videos with the U.S. Copyright Office in January, the lawsuit says.
The lawsuit also accused Kimmel of fraudulent enticement for requesting the videos under aliases such as “Jane,” “Ron” and “Uncle Joe.”
The lawsuit seeks an injunction to stop Kimmel and his producers from sharing Santos' cameos and more than $150,000 in damages.