Jimmy Kimmel is laughing off getting sued by former Rep. George Santos, calling it the “most preposterous lawsuit of all time.”
The “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” host responded for the first time publicly to the lawsuit brought by the New York Republican over a series of Cameo videos recorded by Santos and played on the late-night ABC show.
Santos’s suit, filed Saturday, accused Kimmel of submitting requests for the ex-congressman on the personalized video-sharing service while using “phony name and narratives.”
“George has rudely filed the lawsuit against me, our show and The Walt Disney Co. because we did a nice thing. Because we supported him by ordering his Cameo videos,” Kimmel said during his Monday night monologue.
One of the prank scripts that Kimmel played on his show in December featured Santos praising a man for winning a beef-eating contest. In another, he congratulated a woman for successfully cloning her dog.
“He says we deceived him under the guise of fandom — soliciting personalized videos, only to then broadcast these on national television. And if there’s one thing George Santos will not stand for, it’s using a fake name under false pretenses,” Kimmel said to laughs.
Santos was removed from the House through a bipartisan vote in December. The scandal-plagued ex-lawmaker faces federal indictment on 23 counts of wire fraud, identity theft and other campaign finance charges. He joined Cameo shortly after he was expelled from Congress.
Kimmel quipped of the lawsuit, which is seeking at least $750,000 in damages, “He’s being represented by the prestigious law firm of Pot, Kettle and Black.”
“This is so good,” Kimmel cracked. “I mean, this is like getting sued for paternity by Nick Cannon,” Kimmel said of “The Masked Singer” host, who’s a father of 12.