George Santos sues late-night host Jimmy Kimmel for tricking him into making movies to ridicule him
NEW YORK (AP) — Former U.S. Rep. George Santos alleged in a lawsuit filed Saturday that late-night host Jimmy Kimmel deceived him into making movies on the Cameo app that had been used to ridicule the disgraced New York Republican on the present.
The lawsuit filed in U.S. district courtroom for the southern district of New York names Kimmel, ABC and Walt Disney Co. as defendants. A Disney consultant listed as a media contact for the Jimmy Kimmel Stay! present did not instantly reply to an electronic mail from The Related Press searching for remark.
Santos, who was expelled from the Home of Representatives final 12 months after being charged with a number of counts of fraud and stealing from donors, is suing over alleged copyright infringement, fraudulent inducement, breach of contract and unjust enrichment.
Kimmel misrepresented himself to induce Santos to create personalised movies “capitalizing on and ridiculing” his “gregarious persona,” the lawsuit alleges.
By Cameo, Santos acquired requests from people and companies searching for personalised video messages. Unbeknownst to Santos, Kimmel submitted no less than 14 requests that used phony names and narratives, in keeping with the grievance.
Beginning in December the movies had been performed on a phase, “ Will Santos Say It? ” the go well with says.
In one of many clips, Santos presents congratulations to the purported winner of a beef-eating contest, calling the feat of consuming 6 kilos (2.7 kilograms) of free floor beef in beneath half-hour “superb and spectacular.”
“Frankly, Kimmel’s faux requests had been humorous, however what he did was clear violation of copyright legislation,” Robert Fantone, an lawyer for Santos, mentioned in an electronic mail.
Santos is searching for statutory damages totaling $750,000 for the 5 movies he created that had been performed on the present and varied social media platforms. He additionally asks for different damages to be decided at trial.
The ex-lawmaker faces a slew of legal prices, together with allegations that he defrauded marketing campaign donors, lied to Congress about his wealth, acquired unemployment advantages whereas employed and used marketing campaign contributions to pay for private bills like designer clothes. He is also alleged to have made unauthorized prices on bank cards belonging to a few of his donors.
Santos pleaded not guilty to a revised indictment in October.
On Tuesday, Democrat Tom Suozzi received a particular election for Santos’ former seat.
