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Late night host Jimmy Kimmel called out ousted New York Republican Representative George Santos—who has been mired in scandal since New York Times reporters unearthed multiple lies he'd told about his life story—after Santos sued him for fraud over several Cameo videos that aired on Jimmy Kimmel Live.
Santos made headlines recently for joining Cameo, a site that allows fans to send a video request to celebrities to send personalized video messages to fans' friends, loved ones, or to the fans themselves.
Last week, he filed a lawsuit against Kimmel and ABC, alleging the use of "deceitful tactics." He claims that Kimmel paid him to record video messages, which were then played on Kimmel's show without proper consent.
In a December segment titled "Will Santos Say It?" Kimmel used pseudonyms to purchase videos from Santos on Cameo. The videos featured Santos reading outlandish messages, such as wishing a friend well after winning a beef-eating contest. Santos is pursuing legal action against Kimmel for copyright infringement, fraud, breach of contract, and unjust enrichment, seeking $750,000 in damages.
Kimmel hit back as he opened his latest show by pointing out the irony of Santos, who has been accused of fraud, suing him for fraud:
"We had a three day weekend. It was an eventful weekend for me. Did anyone else get sued by George Santos this weekend?"
"I am currently embroiled in what may be the most preposterous lawsuit of all time. George Santos, a man Republicans kicked out of Congress for being a fraud, is suing me for fraud.”
You can hear what Kimmel said in the video below.
George Santos Sues Jimmy Kimmel for Fraud, Trump Hit with Bigly Fine & He Drops New Sneakersyoutu.be
Kimmel clarified that Santos initiated the lawsuit, which also lists ABC and Disney as defendants, “because we did a nice thing, because we supported him by ordering his Cameo videos":
"After he was removed from the House, George signed on with Cameo to make some money. You know, the website where you can get a celebrity to make a video? So we wrote some absolutely ridiculous messages for him to read. We gave them a credit card number and sure enough he recorded the messages and sent them back to us."
"And now he’s suing. He says we deceived him under the guise of fandom soliciting personalized videos only to then broadcast these on national television. And if there’s one thing George Santos will not stand for it’s using a fake name under false pretenses.”
“And by the way, the idea that he believed these messages, which get posted on the Cameo site anyway, were from real fans? One of them was about a guy named Gary who ate six pounds of loose ground beef in under 30 minutes. Another was a message congratulating my mom Brenda on the successful cloning of her beloved schnauzer Adolf.”
Kimmel joked that Santos is "being represented by the prestigious law firm of Pot, Kettle, and Black" and likened the lawsuit to "getting sued for paternity by Nick Cannon," the actor and television host who has 12 children from multiple relationships.
Santos believes otherwise and earlier wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, that he was upholding his “legal rights” with the lawsuit, adding:
"Jimmy boy thought he could use fraudulent means to violate my copyrights and now he’s going to face the consequences. It’s really that simple. My legal case is unassailable, there’s no question I am in the right.”
You can see his post below.
Many joined Kimmel in mocking Santos.
Others have criticized Santos more directly.
In December, Santos was expelled from the House of Representatives by a vote of 311–114, exceeding the necessary two-thirds majority threshold.
A damning House Ethics Committee report revealed he spent thousands in campaign funds on a variety of non-campaign-related items, including OnlyFans, Botox, and trips to Atlantic City and the Hamptons. The report alleged Santos had committed "knowing and willful violations" of House financial disclosure rules and filed "false or incomplete reports" with the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
The 56-page report offered extensive evidence indicating Santos’ misuse of campaign funds for personal purposes, fraudulent activities toward donors, and submission of false or incomplete campaign finance and financial disclosure reports.
It further accused Santos of exploiting his House candidacy for personal financial gain through a series of deceptive tactics, including lies about his background and experience to constituents, donors, and staff.
Santos' expulsion made him the only Republican ever expelled from the House, and the only Representative expelled without first being convicted of a federal crime or having supported the Confederacy during the Civil War.