A U.S. District Judge threw out the lawsuit filed by George Santos against late night host Jimmy Kimmel wherein the show commissioned ridiculous Cameo videos by the expelled former Congress member, citing “fair use,” according to Variety.
What’s Happening:
- Former Rep. George Santos lost a federal lawsuit that he filed against late-night host Jimmy Kimmel, over the use of his Cameo videos on his hit show, Jimmy Kimmel Live!
- Santos joined Cameo, the social platform where fans of celebrities can commission videos to deliver personalized messages and greetings, after he was expelled from Congress in December after a series of scandals that led up to a 23-count indictment.
- Kimmel and his staff commissioned “about a dozen” of these videos at $400.00 each for a bit on the show called “Will Santos Say It” that featured increasingly absurd messages.
- Santos threatened to sue, but Kimmel welcomed it on his show, saying “Can you imagine if I get sued by George Santos for fraud? I mean, how good would that be? It would be like a dream come true.”
- Santos, expelled from Congress for alleged fraudulent activity, and his lawyers said that fraudulently obtaining a video from someone and then broadcasting it on TV was not only a violation of the Cameo agreement, but also infringed on his own copyright and did not fall under “fair use.”
- However, U.S. District Judge Denise Cote threw out the suit, finding that Kimmel used the videos to make political commentary, therefore it was protected by the doctrine of “fair use.”
- The judge said, “In short, a reasonable observer would understand that Jimmy Kimmel Live! Showed the videos to comment on the willingness of Santos – a public figure who had recently been expelled from Congress for allegedly fraudulent activity including enriching himself through a fraudulent contribution scheme – to say absurd things for money.”
- You can see some of the Cameos in the cued clip below, as they appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live!
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