Ousted Rep. George Santos Sues Jimmy Kimmel Over Cameo Video Prank

Former Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) has filed a lawsuit against late night host Jimmy Kimmel on Saturday over prank Cameo videos used in a segment of his talk show, according to media reports.
Shortly after being ousted from Congress in December, Santos began offering to record personalized video messages via the online service Cameo for $500 per video — inspiring a humorous prank for Kimmel’s talk show.
In a December episode of his talk show, Kimmel mocked the disgraced congressman with a segment called “Will Santos Say It?” in which Kimmel paid for Cameo videos under fake names and requested that Santos read out absurd messages.
The video requests featured made-up stories, including one from a woman asking Santos to congratulate her on successfully cloning her dog named Adolf.
The lawsuit, which was first reported by the New York Post on Saturday, alleges that Kimmel created fake profiles to submit video requests.
Kimmel’s representatives did not immediately respond to HuffPost’s request for comment.
Santos, who is suing Kimmel for copyright infringement, fraud, breach of contract and unjust enrichment, is now seeking at least $750,000 in damages through the lawsuit, a significant leap from the sum he originally threatened to seek.
In response to Kimmel’s prank, Santos reportedly demanded that Kimmel pay him $20,000 in December. Kimmel doubled down, airing more of the videos he tricked Santos into recording and laughing off the payment demand.
“Can you imagine if I get sued by George Santos for fraud?” Kimmel joked on his Dec. 11 show. “I mean, how good would that be? It would be like a dream come true.”
A day later, Santos’ lawyer sent Kimmel a cease and desist letter and demanded that the videos be removed from social media accounts associated with the talk show, the Post and NBC reported.
Santos, who took office in January 2023, has admitted to lying on his resume several times and spreading other false narratives about himself.
The damning investigation from the House Ethics Committee that led to Santos’ expulsion exposed even more of his lies, notably that he spent thousands of dollars of campaign funds on an OnlyFans subscription and Botox treatments, among other personal expenses.
The panel also found that Santos had faked donations to his campaign to persuade donors to give him more money.
Santos posted about the lawsuit on X (formerly Twitter) on Saturday, claiming that Kimmel “committed fraud and violated civil rights and federal coup right [sic] laws along with licensing agreements.” He added in a separate post: “F**k around and find out.”
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