George Santos accuses Jimmy Kimmel of tricking him into making humiliating Cameo videos

Former congressman George Santos alleged in a lawsuit filed Saturday that late-night host Jimmy Kimmel deceived him into making videos on the Cameo app that were used to ridicule the disgraced New York Republican on the show.

The lawsuit filed in US district court for the southern district of New York names Kimmel, ABC and Walt Disney Co as defendants. A Disney representative listed as a media contact for the Jimmy Kimmel Live! show didn’t immediately respond to an email from the Associated Press seeking comment.

Santos, who was expelled from the House of Representatives last year after being charged with multiple counts of fraud and stealing from donors, is suing over alleged copyright infringement, fraudulent inducement, breach of contract and unjust enrichment.

Kimmel misrepresented himself to induce Santos to create personalized videos “capitalizing on and ridiculing” his “gregarious personality”, the lawsuit alleges.

Through Cameo, Santos received requests from individuals and businesses seeking personalized video messages. Unbeknownst to Santos, Kimmel submitted at least 14 requests that used phony names and narratives, according to the complaint.

Starting in December the videos were played on a segment, “Will Santos Say It?” the suit says.

In one of the clips, Santos offers congratulations to the purported winner of a beef-eating contest, calling the feat of consuming 6lbs (2.7kg) of loose ground beef in under 30 minutes “amazing and impressive”.

“Frankly, Kimmel’s fake requests were funny, but what he did was clear violation of copyright law,” an attorney for Santos, Robert Fantone, said in an email.

Santos is seeking statutory damages totaling $750,000 for the five videos he created that were played on Kimmel’s show and