George Santos threatens to sue Jimmy Kimmel, ABC over Cameo video feud
The joke’s on him.
George Santos is threatening to sue late-night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel and ABC for alleged misuse of his Cameo clips, The Post has learned.
An attorney for the expelled House member sent a “cease and desist” letter to Kimmel, ABC and executive producer of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” Doug Deluca after several of Santos’ Cameos were played on the show.
“We are writing to congratulate you — your ‘dream’ of being sued by Mr. Santos may indeed come true,” Santos lawyer Andrew Mancilla wrote in the Dec. 12 letter, obtained by The Post.
“While your comedic efforts are much appreciated, you should have obtained Mr. Santos’ consent, as he is not camera shy, nor is he blind to the comedic irony of suing you for fraud,” the letter said.
It comes amid an ongoing feud between the host and Santos, which became public last week when Kimmel claimed the embattled former New York congressman had demanded $20,000 for using the videos on the late-night show.
“[George Santos] has claimed he’s made more money in seven days than he did in Congress for a year, and part of that money came from me,” Kimmel told his audience during last Monday’s episode.
The host said he had anonymously submitted Cameo requests to Santos.
“I sent him a bunch of crazy video requests because I wanted to see what he would read and what he wouldn’t read,” Kimmel went on. “I showed some of them on the air on Thursday, and now he’s demanding $20,000 from me to be paid a commercial rate.”
Kimmel titled the segment “Will Santos Say It?” and claimed the ousted lawmaker increased the rates of his videos to $500 each.
“He should be thanking me for buying these videos,” he quipped.
Santos, of all people, knows about misrepresentation, having lied about nearly his entire background during his run for Congress.
He became the sixth member ever to be expelled from the House of Representatives on Dec. 1, a little more than a year after he won election.
Since then, Santos — who has also been accused of lying about his campaign’s finances and defrauding donors, which he denies — has launched an account on Cameo, a platform where people can pay to get personalized videos from celebrities.
In the cease and desist letter, Santos’ lawyer told Kimmel and ABC that the fabulist ex-politician might get the last laugh in court over Kimmel’s “prank.”
“Such ‘pranks’ are frequently known by a different name in the legal community: fraud,” Mancilla charged.
He called Kimmel a “sneaky little trickster” who may have earned “some hearty laughs” and boosted ratings, but claimed his actions “constitute fraudulent inducement, breach of contract and unjust enrichment as well as violations of New York State’s Civil Rights Law.”
“You also breached Cameo’s Terms of Service, which we understand they already contacted you about,” the attorney alleged.
“We trust you will take this letter as seriously as Mr. Santos takes his Cameo commitments. Let’s resolve this. Call us.”
Deluca, Kimmel’s producer, had no immediate comment to the Dec. 12 cease and desist letter.
