A federal judge in New York on Monday dismissed a lawsuit brought by former GOP Congressman George Santos against late-night host Jimmy Kimmel over prank videos.
Santos sued Kimmel in February, accusing him of deceptively obtaining Cameo videos and then airing them on Jimmy Kimmel Live.
Santos said Kimmel requested at least 14 videos by giving "phony names and narratives" from "fake user profiles," and then shared the videos on a segment called "Will Santos Say It?"
Santos began offering content on Cameo, a platform on which celebrities share personalized videos for money, after he was expelled from the House over ethics concerns late last year.
In his lawsuit, Santos accused Kimmel, ABC, and parent company Disney of fraud, breach of contract, unjust enrichment, and copyright infringement. U.S. District Judge Denise Cote dismissed all four claims.
In her 27-page decision, Cote wrote, "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."
The House expelled Santos in December 2023 following a House Ethics Committee report accusing him of using campaign funds for personal use, engaging in "fraudulent conduct," and filing false or incomplete reports to the Federal Election Commission during his 2022 run for Congress.
Santos was indicted in 2023 on 23 criminal charges. He's expected in court Monday to plead guilty to multiple counts as part of a plea deal that would avoid a trial. Jury selection had been set to begin Sept. 9 in Suffolk County, New York.
Kate McManus ✉
Kate McManus is a New Jersey-based Newsmax writer who's spent more than two decades as a journalist.
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