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Kimmel misrepresented himself to induce Santos to create personalized videos “taking advantage of and ridiculing” his “outgoing personality,” the lawsuit alleges.
Through Cameo, Santos received requests from people and companies looking for personalized video messages. Unbeknownst to Santos, Kimmel submitted at least 14 applications that used false names and narratives, according to the complaint.
Starting in December, the videos were played in a segment, “Will Santos say it? ”the lawsuit says.
In one of the clips, Santos congratulates the supposed winner of a meat-eating contest, calling the feat of consuming 6 pounds of loose ground beef in less than 30 minutes “amazing and impressive.”
“Frankly, Kimmel’s fake requests were funny, but what he did was a clear violation of copyright law,” Robert Fantone, Santos’ attorney, said in an email.
Santos is seeking legal damages totaling $750,000 for the five videos he created that were played on the show and on various social media platforms. He also asks that other damages be determined at trial.
The former lawmaker faces a slew of criminal charges, including accusations of defrauding campaign donors, lying to Congress about his wealth, receiving unemployment benefits while employed and using campaign contributions to pay for personal expenses such as designer clothing. It is also alleged that he made unauthorized charges on the credit cards of some of his donors.
Santos pleaded not guilty to a revised indictment in October.
On Tuesday, Democrat Tom Suozzi won a special election for Santos’ former seat.