A federal appeals court has ruled that George Santos’ lawsuit against Jimmy Kimmel was correctly dismissed by a lower court, shutting down the disgraced former congressman’s longshot attempt to get damages over a late-night bit that turned his Cameo hustle into comedy fodder.
Santos had sued Kimmel, ABC, and Disney last year, arguing that Kimmel infringed his copyright, violated Cameo’s terms of service, and committed fraud by using fake names to buy more than a dozen personalized Cameo videos from him and then airing them on Jimmy Kimmel Live! as part of a recurring segment called “Will Santos Say It?”
A federal judge dismissed the six months later, ruling that Kimmel’s use of the clips was protected by the “fair use” doctrine because they were used for political commentary. Santos later appealed, claiming Kimmel had orchestrated the videos’ creation and that his use wasn’t “transformative” enough to qualify as fair use.
On Monday, the Second Circuit rejected that argument and upheld the dismissal. The court said Kimmel’s segments were a clear case of commentary and criticism—protected under the fair use doctrine—and that Santos’ other state law claims also failed to hold up.
The ruling effectively ends Santos’ case.
Kimmel, for his part, has never seemed particularly worried about the whole ordeal. When Santos first threatened to sue, he joked on Jimmy Kimmel Live! that getting sued by Santos for fraud would be “like a dream come true.” Santos is currently in prison serving a 7-year sentence for fraud.
The appeals court’s full opinion can be read below:
