On Saturday, former Congressman George Santos sued late-night host Jimmy Kimmel, accusing him of “fraud” over the use and obtainment of Santos’ Cameo videos. At the time, Kimmel didn’t comment, instead using last night’s episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live as an opportunity to reflect on the lawsuit.
“We had a three-day weekend,” Kimmel said, opening the show. “It was an eventful weekend for me. Did anyone else get sued by George Santos this weekend? I am currently embroiled in what may be the most preposterous lawsuit of all time. George Santos, a man Republicans kicked out of Congress for being a fraud, is suing me for fraud.”
Kimmel explained that Santos filed the lawsuit, which also names ABC and Disney as defendants, “because we did a nice thing, because we supported him by ordering his Cameo videos.”
“After he was removed from the House, George signed on with Cameo to make some money,” Kimmel said. “You know the website where you can get a celebrity to make a video. So we wrote some absolutely ridiculous messages for him to read. We gave them a credit card number and sure enough he recorded the messages and sent them back to us. And now he’s suing. He says we deceived him under the guise of fandom soliciting personalized videos only to then broadcast these on national television. And if there’s one thing George Santos will not stand for it’s using a fake name under false pretenses.”
Kimmel added, “And by the way, the idea that he believed these messages, which get posted on the Cameo site anyway, were from real fans? One of them was about a guy named Gary who ate six pounds of loose ground beef in under 30 minutes. Another was a message congratulating my mom Brenda on the successful cloning of her beloved schnauzer Adolf.”
The late-night host explained that Santos’ lawsuit claims he thought these were “real messages and that he was duped.” “He’s being represented by the prestigious law firm of Pot, Kettle, and Black,” Kimmel quipped.
Kimmel is clearly delighted by the lawsuit, calling it “so good.” He noted, “This is like getting sued for paternity by Nick Cannon.”
Santos’ lawsuit was filed on Saturday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, and alleges fraud, breach of contract, unjust enrichment, and copyright infringement.
According to the complaint, Kimmel used “phony names and narratives” to submit video requests of Santos’ Cameos, which were sent from “fake User profiles” made by the host as part of “fraud” “for the sole purpose of capitalizing on and ridiculing [Santos’] gregarious personality,” which Kimmel allegedly misused on his show.
It adds that the late-night host “falsely represented” himself as multiple users when making the requests, per the suit, and claims the moves violate Cameos terms of service along with violating Santos’ copyright. Santos is seeking at least $750,000 in damages.
Per the suit, Kimmel even joked about being sued by Santos in the wake of the alleged “fraud,” during a Dec. 11 episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live. “Could you imagine if I get sued by George Santos for a fraud,” Kimmel said at the time. “I mean how good would that be? It would be like a dream come true. So since I started buying his videos his rates went way up to $500 a piece. He should be thanking me for buying these videos.”
In December, Santos was expelled from the House of Representatives following an Ethics Committee investigation and being indicted and arrested on charges of wire fraud, money laundering, and lying to Congress. Shortly afterward, he launched his reportedly lucrative Cameo video-making career.
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