Former Rep. George Santos Sues Jimmy Kimmel Over Alleged Copyright Infringement

Former New York representative George Santos is suing Jimmy Kimmel for allegedly deceiving him into creating videos that helped Kimmel mock Santos on his show.

The lawsuit alleges that Kimmel is guilty of "copyright infringement, fraudulent inducement, breach of contract and unjust enrichment." According to the lawsuit, Kimmel used phony accounts to get Santos to create personalized video messages on the app Cameo.

Once Kimmel obtained these videos, he used many of them as material for a segment on his show called "Would Santos Say It?"

One such video included Santos offering congratulations to the supposed winner of a beef-eating contest. According to the Kimmel request, one contestant of this fake competition ate 6 pounds of loose ground beef in under 30 minutes, which Santos called "amazing and impressive." 

Robert Fantone, an attorney for Santos, said that despite the humorous nature of the videos, Kimmel violated copyright laws.

"Frankly, Kimmel’s fake requests were funny, but what he did was clear violation of copyright law," Fantone said in an email.

In total, Santos created five videos at Kimmel’s request, and he is seeking $750,000 in damages as a result. He is also hoping to receive other damages that will be determined at the trial.

Kimmel’s camp has not yet provided a response to the allegations.

Santos served as a representative from January 2023 to December 2023. However, he was removed from office after charges surfaced in May of that same year for "seven counts of wire fraud, three counts of money laundering, one count of theft of public funds, and two counts of making materially false statements."