George Santos wants $20k from Jimmy Kimmel for airing his sad little Cameo videos on TV
George Santos has demanded $20,000 from Jimmy Kimmel after he aired several of the former congressman’s Cameo videos on TV.
After being expelled from the House of Representatives on 1 December following multiple ethics violations and criminal charges, the controversial Republican turned to Cameo – an app for celebrities to send personalised videos to fans – to make money.
Santos, 35, who was accused of spending thousands of dollars of campaign money on luxury clothing, Botox treatments and OnlyFans subscriptions, is now charging hundreds of dollars to make videos based on requests people send him.
Late night talkshow host Kimmel has taken advantage of Santos’ new venture, by anonymously submitting bizarre and hilarious requests to the Republican’s Cameo account, showing them off during a segment on Jimmy Kimmel Live! called “Will Santos Say It?”
“I couldn’t resist!” Kimmel said on his show, explaining that he had sent a number of requests, including for Santos to congratulate a man that Kimmel made up for “coming out as a furry”.
Requests also included for Santos to congratulate a person for winning a “beef-eating contest”, to congratulate a woman for successfully cloning her dog, and to cheer on a fictional blind woman for getting her driving licence.
No surprises, Santos did in fact complete many of Kimmel’s increasingly ridiculous requests.
Since Kimmel aired his segment, however, Santos has demanded $20,000 from the host, claiming that he should be paid a “commercial rate” for his videos to be aired on the show.
“[Santos] has claimed he’s made more money in seven days than he did in Congress for a year, and part of that money came from me. I sent him a bunch of crazy video requests because I wanted to see what he would read and what he wouldn’t read,” Kimmel said on his show on Monday (11 December).
“I showed some of them on the air on Thursday, and now he’s demanding $20,000 from me to be paid a commercial rate.”
Kimmel, however, joked that he has a “big stockpile” of George Santos’ Cameo videos left to show, and that he would continue to air them despite the former politician’s demands.
“Can you imagine if I get sued by George Santos for fraud? How good would that be?” Kimmel joked. “It would be like a dream come true.”
George Santos was accused of using donor money to buy luxury designer goods and pay off his own credit card in May this year, and in November, and ethics committee panel found that he “blatantly stole from his campaign” and exploited “every aspect of his House candidacy for his own personal financial profit”.
Santos called the panel’s report a “politicised smear” on social media.
In December, the gay Republican former politician was then expelled from congress in a historic bipartisan vote.
“To hell with this place,” he was heard telling reporters as he left the Capitol before the vote was finalised.
Santos has confirmed that he won’t be seeking re-election.
“My family deserves better than to be under the gun from the press all the time,” he wrote on Twitter/X after the ethics committee report was released.
