Disgraced former New York representative George Santos complains Jimmy Kimmelclaiming the late-night host broke the law by generating fake requests on celebrity video app Cameo.
The lawsuit, filed Saturday in federal court in New York, names the host, ABC and Walt Disney Co. as defendants. Claims include copyright infringement, fraudulent inducement, breach of contract and unjust enrichment.
“If you don’t stand up for yourself, you will always lose!” That’s what I’m doing with this lawsuit. “I stand firm and fight to protect my legal rights,” Santos said Posted on X, formerly Twitter, Saturday evening. “Jimmy Boy thought he could use fraudulent means to infringe my copyright, and now he's facing the consequences.” It's really that simple. My legal case is unassailable, there is no doubt that I am right.”
The lawsuit stems from a new profession that Santos found himself in after Congress expelled him in early December. This was the result of a damning ethics investigation that uncovered widespread misuse of campaign funds, including for casino travel, OnlyFans subscriptions, luxury goods and Botox.
Shortly after his expulsion, Santos set up an account on Cameo, which allows users to pay celebrities for short, individual videos. After just two days, he claimed to have compiled enough videos to exceed his annual congressional salary of $174,000. The founder and CEO of the platform, Steven GalanisSaid Semafor that Santos would be “an absolute whale” and that his debut consisted of “achieving numbers” that rivaled those of Sarah Jessica Parker and Bon Jovi.
The lawsuit alleges that at least fourteen requests Santos received in early December came from fake accounts that used Kimmel's “false names and narratives.” Those requests included scripts for Santos to send congratulatory messages to one user for cloning a schnauzer named Adolf and to another for eating “six pounds of ground meat in less than 30 minutes.” The comic played five of the fabulist's videos in a show segment titled “Will Santos Say It?”
A lawyer for Santos sent Kimmel a cease-and-desist letter back on December 12, calling the host a “sneaky little scammer.”
In the lawsuit, Santos accuses Kimmel of violating the app's terms of use and Santos' copyright. Kimmel, the lawsuit adds, paid for the videos “for the sole purpose of capitalizing on them and ridiculing them.” [Santosâ] gregarious personality.” The former congressman is seeking $750,000 in damages.
“Frankly, Kimmel's fake requests were funny, but what he did was a clear copyright violation,” said a Santos lawyer. Robert Fantonesaid in an email to news outlets.
According to the lawsuit, Kimmel joked about the possibility of taking legal action during one of the segments.
“Can you imagine George Santos suing me for fraud,” Kimmel said in early December. “I mean, how good would that be? It would be like a dream come true. Since I started buying his videos, his prices have increased to as much as $500 each. He should thank me for buying these videos.”
“Jimmy, I'm sorry my Christmas present for you was late, but we want wishes to come true,” Santos told the New York Post, which reported news of the lawsuit on Saturday. “I hope you enjoy reading your fraud lawsuit, which you have been looking forward to for a long time.”