Why is George Santos suing Jimmy Kimmel? Ex-Rep's lawsuit against the late-night host over alleged Cameo fraud explored

On Sunday, February 17, New York Republican George Santos filed a lawsuit against late-night TV host Jimmy Kimmel for allegedly tricking him into making videos on the Cameo app and then using the same to make fun of him on his show, Jimmy Kimmel Live!

The videos in question appear to be from a segment titled 'Will Santos Say It?' from December of last year, the same month Santos was booted from the House of Representatives due to multiple charges and allegations against him.

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George Santos sued Jimmy Kimmel and is seeking $750,000 in damages

Back in December last year, former Republican Rep. George Santos was booted from the House of Representatives due to multiple allegations and a 23-count indictment. Some of the charges he faced included falsifying campaign loans and allegedly stealing the identity of his own donors to transfer money to his personal account using their credit cards, as per Forbes.

After his ousting, Santos turned to Cameo and sent personalized messages to whoever paid for him to do so. According to the Associated Press, Jimmy Kimmel reportedly submitted around 14 requests for such Cameos anonymously. Each Cameo cost about $500.

Later in December, Kimmel launched a segment on his show, called 'Will Santos Say It?', in which he aired Santos' Cameo videos alongside the humorous requests he had sent him under a pseudonym.

In one of the requests, Kimmel, under the name Brenda, allegedly asked Santos to congratulate her mom for the successful cloning of her schnauzer named "Adolf," as per the New York Post. After the former Rep. completed this request, he reportedly blew a kiss at the end of the video.

Several of these Cameos were aired by Kimmel on his show, and this did not sit well with Santos, who filed a lawsuit on Saturday at the U.S. district court for the southern district of New York.

The lawsuit named Jimmy Kimmel, ABC, and Walt Disney Co. as the defendants. According to AP, the lawsuit alleged that the talk show host misrepresented himself, making Santos create videos that capitalized on and ridiculed his "gregarious personality."

Additionally, as per the New York Post, the lawsuit also claimed that the videos allegedly violated George Santos' copyright and the terms of service of Cameo. The lawsuit further stated:

"(Jimmy Kimmel) played on the comedic irony of possibly getting sued by [Santos] for fraud, claiming [on his show] that it would be a ‘dream come true'."

As per AP, the former representative's attorney Robert Fantone, said:

"Frankly, Kimmel’s fake requests were funny, but what he did was clear violation of copyright law."

Santos himself, hit back at the talk show host as he told The Post:

"Jimmy, sorry that my Christmas gift to you came late, but here’s to making wishes come true. I hope you enjoy reading your lawsuit for fraud that you’ve been looking forward to"

Five videos were reportedly played on the 'Will Santos Say It?' segment and according to the lawsuit, Santos demanded $750,000 in statutory damages for the videos apart from the additional damages that may be determined at the trial.