New York, NY – Late-night TV host Jimmy Kimmel is facing a lawsuit from George Santos, a former congressman, over videos obtained from the celebrity video-sharing service Cameo. Santos claims that Kimmel used the videos to mock him on air without revealing his true identity. The lawsuit, filed in New York federal court, alleges copyright infringement and fraud against Kimmel, as well as the show’s producers, ABC and Disney.
According to Santos’s attorney, Andrew Mancilla, Kimmel’s actions were exploitative and manipulative, leading to the lawsuit seeking damages of over $150,000 and an injunction to prevent the further sharing of Santos’s Cameo videos. The incident began when Kimmel announced in December that he had pranked Santos by sending him fictitious requests via Cameo, using accounts not under his real name, asking Santos to speak on several bizarre topics.
Santos claims that the videos Kimmel aired on his late-night talk show were owned by Santos and not licensed for broadcast on national television. The lawsuit also alleges that Kimmel committed fraudulent inducement by creating fake profiles on Cameo to commission Santos’s videos. Additionally, Santos registered his videos with the U.S. Copyright Office in January, further strengthening his case against Kimmel.
Kimmel, ABC, and Disney have not yet responded to the lawsuit. In a December show, Kimmel had publicized Santos’s requests for payment after airing the videos, appearing to invite the prospect of a lawsuit from the former congressman.
Santos, who has turned into a flamboyant social media personality and “Former congressional ‘Icon'” on Cameo, has found success in selling personalized videos for $350 each, negotiating a plea deal for 23 federal charges including fraud and money laundering. Kimmel had sent 14 requests to Santos in early December, all of which Santos responded to with videos. Santos demanded that Kimmel and his producers remove the clips from the show that they posted online, which they refused to do.
The lawsuit seeks to address the exploitation and manipulation that Santos feels he experienced at the hands of Kimmel, shedding light on the legal and ethical issues surrounding the use of user-generated content by media personalities and platforms.