[ad_1]
Mandel NGAN/AFP; Randy Holmes/ABC via Getty Images
Former Congressman George Santos sued late-night host Jimmy Kimmel, accusing him of “fraud” for using and obtaining Santos’ Cameo videos. The lawsuit, filed Saturday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, alleges fraud, breach of contract, unjust enrichment and copyright infringement. ABC and Disney are also named as defendants.
According to the complaint, Kimmel used “false names and narratives” to submit video requests for Santos’ cameos, which were sent from “fake user profiles” created by the host as part of a “fraud” “for the sole purpose of capitalizing on and ridiculing (Santos’) gregarious personality,” which Kimmel allegedly abused on his show. The late-night host “falsely represented” himself as multiple users when making the requests, according to the lawsuit, and claims the moves violate Cameos’ terms of service in addition to violating Santos’ copyrights, as The New York Post reported for the first time. Santos is seeking at least $750,000 in damages.
“Kimmel chose personal use licenses for all of the Cameo videos with the intent to violate those licenses by broadcasting and commercially exploiting the Cameo videos on national television,” according to the complaint.
Representatives for ABC, Disney and Kimmel did not immediately respond to Rolling StoneRequests for comments.
According to the lawsuit, Kimmel even joked about being sued by Santos over the alleged “fraud” during a Dec. 11 episode of Jimmy Kimmel live.
“Can you imagine if George Santos sued me for fraud?” Kimmel said at the time. “I mean, how cool would that be? It would be like a dream come true. So, since I started buying his videos, his rates went up to $500 a piece. You should thank me for purchasing these videos.”
In December, Santos was expelled from the House of Representatives following an Ethics Committee investigation and was charged and arrested for wire fraud, money laundering and lying to Congress. Shortly after, he launched his supposedly lucrative career as a Cameo video maker.