Former New York state congressman George Santos recently filed a lawsuit against Jimmy Kimmel after the late-night comedian allegedly solicited a cameo video for Santos “under the guise of fandom.”
The lawsuit, obtained by Fox News Digital, was filed Saturday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. Kimmel claims he requested and paid for 14 cameo videos while concealing his identity.
Santos makes videos for $350 each on Cameo, a service that allows celebrities to record personalized videos and receive cash.
“Defendants have openly admitted that they deceived plaintiffs under the guise of fandom and solicited personalized videos that were then broadcast across national television and social media channels for the purpose of obtaining commercial benefit. “This is a gross violation of the original agreement and clear copyright infringement,” the complaint states. To read.
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Former Congressman George Santos (left) is suing ABC host Jimmy Kimmel for copyright infringement. (Getty Images)
Mr. Santos (who was expelled from Congress in December following a scathing ethics report) and his legal team also argued that Mr. Kimmel’s conduct was fraudulent.
“Defendant Kimmel misrepresented himself and his motives in order to induce Plaintiff to create personalized videos for the sole purpose of exploiting and ridiculing Plaintiff’s outgoing personality,” the lawsuit states. said. “Kimmel not only bragged about intentionally deceiving the plaintiffs, but also claimed it was a ‘dream come true,’ with comedic irony that the plaintiffs might sue him for fraud.” .”
“Kimmel’s call for immediate litigation highlights the defendants’ brazen disregard for the fact that their ‘prank’ violated the law.”
The ABC host began airing the video on Dec. 7, according to the complaint. During her Dec. 11 appearance, Kimmel joked about the possibility of Santos filing a lawsuit. x
“Can you imagine what would happen if I got sued by George Santos for fraud?” the late night talk show host reportedly said. “I mean, how amazing is that? It’s like a dream come true.”
Santos accused Kimmel of violating copyright law in a social media post on Saturday.
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Former Congressman George Santos, RN.Y. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc, via Getty Images/File)
“Kimmel committed fraud and violated civil rights and federal coup rights.” [sic] We need to comply with the law as well as the licensing agreement,” Santos wrote about X.
“Well, do some research,” he added in another post.
Santos’ legal team criticized Kimmel’s actions in a conversation with Fox News Digital.
“Despite the recreational nature of Mr. Kimmel’s fraud, Mr. Santos’ rights were clearly violated,” attorney Robert Fantone said in a statement.
“Mr. Kimmel asked for a lawsuit, so we filed a lawsuit against him,” added attorney Andrew Mancilla. “The best part was that he admitted everything on national television.”
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Jimmy Kimmel attended the premiere of Netflix’s ‘The Greatest Night in Pop’ in Los Angeles on January 29th.
Fox News Digital has reached out to ABC for comment.
