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Santos agreed, not knowing that Kimmel was the recipient, and Kimmel aired the videos on his late-night talk show in December in a segment called “Will Santos Say?”
Santos alleged Saturday in federal court in New York that Kimmel and his show’s producers, ABC and Disney, committed copyright infringement by airing the Cameo videos they requested, which he claimed were owned by Santos and had no licensed to broadcast on national television. He also alleged that Kimmel committed fraud by creating fake profiles on Cameo to commission the Santos videos.
cameos Terms of Service declare that the videos on the platform are licensed, not sold, and that a personal license grants the recipient limited rights to use a requested video for non-commercial and non-promotional purposes. cameos Community Principles indicate that users cannot register using false identities.
Andrew Mancilla, Santos’ attorney, said in a statement to the Washington Post that Kimmel’s humor was “based on manipulation and exploitation.”
Kimmel, ABC and Disney did not immediately respond to a request for comment Sunday night.
On a show in December, days after Kimmel began sharing video cameos he requested, the late-night host saying Santos asked to be paid $20,000 after Kimmel aired his videos. Kimmel appeared to invite the prospect of a lawsuit from the former congressman.
“Can you imagine if George Santos sued me for fraud?” Kimmel told a studio audience that he laughed. “How good would that be?”
Santos, who has made a second act as a flamboyant social media personality and describes himself as a “Former Congressional ‘Icon'” on Cameo after being expelled from the House of Representatives for a series of alleged crimes and falsehoods , has welcomed requests to troll senators. , he sends Valentine’s greetings and sings Taylor Swift songs.
The move has been lucrative for Santos, who is negotiating a plea deal on 23 federal charges, including fraud and money laundering. Santos has sold 1,200 of the videos, for which he charges $350 each, according to said CNN in February.
Kimmel said on his show that he wanted to see how far Santos would go in entertaining strange video requests. He sent 14 requests to Santos in early December, according to Santos’ lawsuit, all of which Santos responded with videos.
Kimmel aired five of Santos’ video cameos on two sample at the beginning of December. In one video, Santos enthusiastically congratulated a mother for cloning her schnauzer dog. In another, a husband apologized to his wife for burning down a shed with fireworks while trying to scare away a bear.
Kimmel said on air that he would continue to post more Santos cameos. But he did not do so after Santos’ attorneys sent Kimmel a cease-and-desist letter on Dec. 12, according to Santos’ lawsuit. Santos also demanded that Kimmel and his producers remove clips from the show they posted online, which they refused, according to the lawsuit.
Santos’ lawsuit alleges that Kimmel requested Santos’ Cameo videos under a personal use license, which prohibits their use for commercial or promotional purposes. Santos also registered his videos with the U.S. Copyright Office in January, the lawsuit states.
The lawsuit also accused Kimmel of fraudulent inducement for soliciting the videos under aliases such as “Jane,” “Ron” and “Uncle Joe.”
The lawsuit seeks an injunction to prevent Kimmel and his producers from sharing Santos’ cameos and damages of more than $150,000.