George Santos sues Jimmy Kimmel over Cameo prank, seeks $750,000 for alleged fraud

The disgraced former congressman has accused Kimmel, ABC, and Disney of copyright infringement, fraud, breach of contract, and unjust enrichment.

Turns out, not everyone wants their 15 minutes of late-night fame.

After being featured in a new segment on Jimmy Kimmel Live, Rep. George Santos is suing the late-night host for his alleged misuse of his Cameo videos.

The former congressman filed a civil lawsuit against Jimmy Kimmel on Saturday, accusing him of using fake names to misrepresent himself while inducing Santos to create videos intended to ridicule his "gregarious personality," the Associated Press reports.

The lawsuit filed in U.S. district court for the Southern district of New York names Kimmel, ABC, and the Walt Disney Co. as defendants and alleges copyright infringement, fraud, breach of contract, and unjust enrichment.

Santos is seeking at least $750,000 in damages. The suit specifically cites the decision to employ the “personal use” license on Cameo, despite the show's intention to broadcast the videos on television.

“Frankly, Kimmel’s fake requests were funny, but what he did was clear violation of copyright law,” Santos’ attorney Robert Fantone said in a statement to the AP.

Representatives for ABC, Disney, and Kimmel did not immediately respond to EW’s requests for comment.

Through Cameo, individuals and businesses can request personalized video messages from celebrities. In a segment on the late-night show in December, Kimmel played a game dubbed “Will Santos Say It?” in which he tested how many of his ridiculous Cameo requests Santos would complete. Kimmel submitted at least 14 requests using fake names and narratives, according to the complaint.

Based on the clips shown on Jimmy Kimmel Live, the requests included having Santos congratulate a person for eating six pounds of loose ground beef in less than 30 minutes and another for cloning a schnauzer named Adolf.

In another episode, Kimmel joked about the prospect of Santos retaliating, saying, “I showed some of them on the air on Thursday, and now he’s demanding $20,000 from me to be paid a commercial rate. Could you imagine if I get sued by George Santos for fraud? I mean how good would that be? It would be like a dream come true.”

Santos, a former congressman of New York, was expelled from the House of Representatives last year after being charged with a litany of wrongdoings including fraud, money laundering, and theft.

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