Former Republican Congressman George Santos filed a lawsuit on Saturday, Feb. 17, against Jimmy Kimmel for allegedly creating 14 prank Cameo requests and playing some of them on his show. Santos, who was expelled from Congress in 2023 and charged with federal fraud, identity theft and campaign finance violations, is suing Kimmel in federal court for $750,000 over Kimmel’s “Will Santos Say It?” segment.
“I couldn’t resist,” Kimmel said as he introduced the segment on his show. “So I sent George through Cameo a number of different ridiculous requests like you could tell him what you wanted to say. I’ll be parceling these out over the next week. I didn’t say they were from me. I just wrote them and sent them to find out ‘Will Santos Say It?’”
According to the lawsuit, Santos did 14 Cameos that Kimmel submitted under “fake user profiles,” five of which have allegedly been aired on Kimmel’s show.
“Hey, Brenda,” Santos said in one of the Cameos. “I wanted to congratulate you on successfully cloning your beloved schnauzer, Adolf. I know it was a lot of trials and tribulations, but you finally did it; now you get to enjoy Adolf and be happy, so give him a belly rub for me. Muah.”
After being expelled from Congress, Santos told the media that doing Cameos made him more money than he would have made serving in the House.
“I can tell you that by the end of this week that is actual factual, I will have made more money in seven days than I would have made in an entire year in Congress,” Santos said during an interview with CBS New York.
According to the lawsuit, Santos alleges Kimmel committed copyright infringement, fraudulent inducement, breach of contract and unjust enrichment. The lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York also lists ABC and Walt Disney Co. as co-defendants.
“By creating fake user profiles and submitting fake requests, Kimmel falsely represented himself as multiple different users seeking Santos’ personalized cameo videos for personal use,” the lawsuit said.
Before filing the lawsuit, Kimmel reportedly denied Santos’ request for $20,000 to use the videos on his show. Santos then sent Kimmel a cease-and-desist letter in December 2024. Kimmel’s team has not responded to the media’s request for comment.
Santos’ empty seat in Congress is not going to stay empty for much longer as Democrat Tom Suozzi, N.Y., who previously held the seat before taking a run for governor, is set to be sworn in on Feb. 28, after he beat out his Republican opponent Mazi Pilip in a special election.
