This is no laughing matter.
Expelled ex-Rep. George Santos is suing television host Jimmy Kimmel for allegedly misusing his Cameo clips on his show, The Post has learned.
Santos claims Kimmel duped him into producing over a dozen personalized videos through the video platform, which he then featured on his late-night talk show, according to a complaint filed Saturday in Manhattan federal court.
In December, a little over a year after his election victory, Santos was booted from the House of Representatives following fraud and other charges and a damning report from the House Ethics Committee alleging he spent campaign funds on OnlyFans, Botox, and Hermes.
Santos quickly began shilling his image on the app Cameo, where celebrities can sell personalized videos, and unknowingly made at least 14 clips for pseudonymous requests from Kimmel for $500 a pop, according to the complaint.
Among Kimmel’s scripts for Santos were videos congratulating a woman for successfully cloning her schnauzer named Adolf, as well as a man for winning a competitive ground beef eating contest, court papers noted.
In addition to allegedly violating Cameo’s terms of service and Santos’ copyright, the suit claims Kimmel committed fraud by using fake aliases to solicit videos “for the sole purpose of capitalizing on and ridiculing [Santos’] gregarious personality” — and even bragged on his show about his duplicity.
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 suit notes.
The federal suit is the latest salvo in the feud between Kimmel and the lying ex-legislator, who infamously fabricated his background during his congressional run.
After several of the videos were played on the show in a segment titled “Will Santos Say It?” the former legislator’s attorney Andrew Mancilla sent a cease and desist letter to Kimmel and threatened to sue over the clips’ use.
Santos is seeking at least $750,000 in damages. ABC and Disney are also named in the complaint.
“Jimmy, sorry that my Christmas gift to you came late, but here’s to making wishes come true,” Santos told The Post. “I hope you enjoy reading your lawsuit for fraud that you’ve been looking forward to.”
Kimmel, ABC, and Disney did not respond to requests for comment.
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