George Santos Threatening Jimmy Kimmel With Legal Action Over Cameos
It’s been less than two weeks since George Santos was booted from his Congressional seat and already he’s been trending more often than he ever did while as a member of the GOP. First, it was because Santos was the sixth lawmaker in history to be expelled from Congress. Then it was that HBO was making a movie about the ex-politician, followed by the news that Santos had joined Cameo, an app where people pay money for personalized messages from celebrities. Now, Santos is in the headlines again, this time because Jimmy Kimmel allegedly didn’t properly pay for a dozen Cameos the late-night host ordered from the ex-politician.
George Santos Wants Jimmy Kimmel To Pay For Cameo Pranks
According to The Spectator, George Santos is demanding $20,000 from late-night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel for a series of Cameo pranks featured on Kimmel’s show. The ousted congressman, who has embraced the world of personalized video messages on the Cameo platform, claims that Kimmel used his services without proper compensation and is now threatening legal action.
Jimmy Kimmel’s George Santos Segment
Jimmy Kimmel unveiled a new segment on his show titled “Will George Santos Say It?” last Friday, where he orchestrated a series of “pranks” by anonymously requesting Santos to read out absurd messages in Cameo videos. The first video, titled “Jimmy Kimmel Pranks George Santos on Cameo,” quickly went viral on YouTube, amassing 1.4 million views in just three days. However, Santos might have the last laugh as he seeks recompense for his services.
George Santos Expelled From Congress
George Santos, the self-proclaimed “People’s Princess,” was expelled from Congress on December 1 and almost immediately joined Cameo as his new side gig. Seeing the door opening for some light comedy, Jimmy Kimmel’s team ordered a dozen videos under various aliases, such as a congratulations video for winning a fictional Florida beef-eating contest and a message explaining the burning down of a shed with fireworks. The segment, although generating significant online attention, has unsurprisingly sparked controversy.
Does Jimmy Kimmel Really Owe $20,000?
While Jimmy Kimmel’s audience complained about the late-night host financially supporting a Trump ally, another concern emerged regarding the legality of the transactions. George Santos charges $500 per video on Cameo, and he claims that Kimmel may owe him tens of thousands of dollars for the videos featured on the show.It’s clear in the terms and conditions that Cameo distinguishes between personal and commercial use. While it’s a pretty common practice to simply ignore the ToC, click “agree” and move on, this may have been a big mistake on Jimmy Kimmel’s part. George Santos asserts that Jimmy Kimmel’s use of the videos for broadcast on his TV show falls under the commercial category, entitling Santos to a higher rate, potentially reaching $21,800 for the four videos aired so far.
Jimmy Kimmel’s Response
George Santos alleges that Cameo is supporting his effort to receive proper compensation, emphasizing the importance of enforcing terms of service to maintain the platform’s integrity. While Santos’s credibility may be questioned given his track record, Cameo’s response remains unknown at the time of reporting. Meanwhile, Jimmy Kimmel’s response to the allegations was to label Santos a “comedy genius,” and deny any instance of underpayment.
