- Santos filed a civil lawsuit this Saturday against the artist Jimmy Kimmel
- He accused the late-night host of making ‘false’ requests for Cameo videos
- Kimmel Solicits Strange Tributes, Broadcasts His ABC Late-Night Show To Them
Disgraced former congressman George Santos has sued Jimmy Kimmel, accusing the late-night host of misusing clips purchased through the celebrity video service Cameo.
Santos is seeking at least $750,000 in damages in the lawsuit filed Saturday in Manhattan federal court, which accused the ABC anchor of fraud, copyright infringement, breach of contract and unjust enrichment.
In December, Kimmel aired several clips of Santos responding to strange requests through Cameo, the service that allows users to pay for personalized video greetings or well-wishes from celebrities, often from the D-list.
The lawsuit alleges that Kimmel “misrepresented himself and his motives” and provided “false names and narratives” when he submitted “false requests… from fake user profiles created by Kimmel as part of the fraud.”
Santos mocked Kimmel in a statement to the New York Postwho first reported on the lawsuit, saying, “Jimmy, I’m sorry my Christmas present was late, but here’s to making wishes come true.”
Disgraced former congressman George Santos sued Jimmy Kimmel (left), accusing the late-night host of misusing clips (right) purchased through the celebrity video service Cameo.
“I hope you enjoy reading the fraud lawsuit you’ve been waiting for,” Santos added, referring to the show’s host’s on-air invitation to file a lawsuit.
A spokeswoman for Jimmy Kimmel Live did not immediately respond to a request for comment from DailyMail.com on Saturday afternoon.
Santos, a Republican from Long Island, was expelled from the U.S. House of Representatives in December after an Ethics Committee report added new fraud allegations to two federal indictments with 23 counts related to fraud.
Their lawsuit alleges that Kimmel ‘selected personal use licenses for all of the Cameo videos with the intent to violate such licenses by broadcasting and commercially exploiting the Cameo videos on national television.’
Kimmel aired several Santos cameos late last year, including one in which he asked well wishes for a fictional Florida man who won a ‘Meat Eating Contest.’
Santos responded to the request by sending a video clip that appeared to have been recorded in a car.
“Eating six pounds of loose ground beef in under 30 minutes is a new all-time record, which is amazing and impressive!” Santos was excited.
“Congratulations on the victory, I know you feel a little bad, but a big source told me that the doctors said that you will be released from the hospital soon and you will recover well.”
Santos is the sixth member of the House, and the only Republican, expelled from Congress
In another clip requested by Kimmel, Santos congratulated a blind girl for successfully passing her driver’s license exam and wished her a speedy recovery after suffering a serious accident the next day.
“You’ll shake it off as soon as you take off the cast,” Santos said encouragingly.
Shortly after the clips aired on Kimmel’s show, Santos’ attorney, Andrew Mancilla, sent a cease-and-desist letter to Kimmel and threatened to sue over use of the clips.
Mancilla, who bills himself as “a lawyer by day and a noteworthy musician at night’, represents Santos in the lawsuit along with attorneys Robert Fantone and Joe Murray.
Santos is the sixth House member, and the only Republican, to be expelled from Congress.
He famously lied prodigiously about his life story and his resumption of the election campaign in 2022, with the lies coming to light shortly after winning his first term.
Santos has pleaded not guilty to federal charges alleging multiple wide-ranging fraud schemes, including the unauthorized use of credit card numbers stolen from campaign donors.
Kimmel responded to Santos’ legal threat in statements on his show in December.
‘Can you imagine if George Santos sued me for fraud?’ he said. ‘I mean, how cool would that be? “It would be like a dream come true.”