George Santos Is Suing Jimmy Kimmel For Alleged Misuse Of His Cameo Messages

Former U.S. Rep. George Santos (R-NY) is suing late night comedian Jimmy Kimmel for allegedly misusing his Cameo clips.

Since he was expelled by Congress without a conviction, Santos has been active on Cameo, a site where users can pay celebrities and public figures to make statements and greetings.

Kimmel recently poked fun at Santos’ new venture with a segment, “Will Santos Say It,” in which Kimmel’s team requested a number of odd video requests. “We have disgraced former congressman George Santos, who has a new gig, making videos on Cameo for $400 a pop, which is a dilemma because on one hand you hate to give money to a guy like George Santos, but on the other, pretty good chance he has your credit card information already,” Kimmel joked. “Whatever the case, I couldn’t resist, so I sent George, through Cameo, a number of different ridiculous requests, like you could tell him what you want him to say. I didn’t say they’re for me, I just wrote them and sent them to find out.”

Requests included a congratulatory message for setting a world record in the “Clearwater beet-eating contest” and a message for “Ron’s wife.”

After a number of clips were posted to Kimmel’s show, the former congressman’s attorney Andrew Mancilla sent a cease-and-desist letter to the late-night comedian. According to a complaint filed in a Manhattan court on Saturday, Santos is now following through with his lawsuit against Kimmel for alleged misuse of his Cameo messages.

In addition to allegedly violating Cameo’s terms of service and Santos’ copyright, the suit accuses Kimmel of committing fraud by using fake names to solicit videos ““or the sole purpose of capitalizing on and ridiculing [Santos’] gregarious personality.” The suit points to Kimmel’s segment as an example.

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,’” the complaint goes on to note. In total, Santos is seeking $750,000 in the lawsuit that also names Disney and ABC.

“Jimmy, sorry that my Christmas gift to you came late, but here’s to making wishes come true,” Santos said in a statement to the New York Post. “I hope you enjoy reading your lawsuit for fraud that you’ve been looking forward to.”