• by Wendy Davis  @wendyndavis, August 21, 2024

Former lawmaker George Santos will ask a federal appellate court to revive his lawsuit against late-night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel over prank videos that were broadcast on TV and posted to YouTube.

U.S. District Court Judge Denise Cote in the Southern District of New York threw out Santos's suit on Monday, ruling that it was evident from the allegations in Santos's complaint that Kimmel and the network made fair use of the clips.

On Tuesday, Santos formally initiated an appeal to the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals. He hasn't yet filed substantive arguments with that court.

The legal battle dates to February, when Santos sued Kimmel, ABC and Disney over Cameo videos featuring Santos reading ludicrous messages that had been suggested by Kimmel.

The Cameo videos aired on Jimmy Kimmel Live in the segment, “Will Santos Say It,” and were also posted to YouTube.

One clip showed Santos congratulating the fictional “Gary Fortuna,” who supposedly had eaten almost six pounds of loose ground beef in under 30 minutes in order to win a contest.

“I know you're feeling a little under the weather, but I hear from a great source that the doctor said that you'll be released from the hospital soon and recover well,” Santos says in the Cameo.

Santos joined Cameo late last year, just days after he was expelled from Congress. The former House representative, who pleaded guilty to fraud and wire fraud earlier this week, charged $200 a video to deliver personalized messages through the platform.

Santos's complaint included claims that Kimmel and the TV network infringed copyright by displaying the Cameo videos.

Kimmel and the TV network urged Cote to dismiss the case at an early stage, arguing that the clips were a “quintessential example of a fair use," and therefore didn't infringe copyright.

The videos were shown “to mock and criticize Santos’ decision to immediately pivot from being expelled from Congress for financial misconduct to a 'new gig' selling Cameo videos, in a manner that suggested he still had no shame about doing anything for money,” attorneys for Kimmel and ABC wrote.

Cote agreed with Kimmel and ABC, and threw out the lawsuit. She said that even though judges don't typically decide fair use questions until later in the proceedings, in this case it was obvious from Santos's allegations that Kimmel and the network would prevail.