Jimmy Kimmel isn’t taking George Santos‘ demands that the late-night host pay him $20,000 very seriously. On Monday night, the ABC host played two more of Santos’ Cameos following the former U.S. representative’s threat that Kimmel and his team need to pay him more than $20,000.
“[George 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. “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.”
“Can you imagine if I get sued by George Santos for fraud? How good would that be? It would be like a dream come true,” Kimmel added.
The late-night host went on to note that since Santos’ Cameos had appeared on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” Santos’ rates have increased to $500 per video. “He should be thanking me for buying these videos,” Kimmel said.
He then reassured his audience that he has “a big stockpile” of Santos Cameos and doesn’t plan to stop airing them anytime soon. To prove his point, Kimmel then presented two fake stories back-to-back as part of a new segment, “Will Santos Say It?”
The first asked Santos to congratulate a legally blind niece who had just passed her driver’s test but had recently gotten into a car accident. True to the request, Santos wished this fictional niece a speedy recovery with the help of Jesus and President Trump. The second story revolved around a man named Heath who just came out as a furry to his family and friends. Santos assured Heath that everyone accepted him and even said “Yiff, yiff, yiff” as requested — a slang term used in the furry community that refers to pornographic content.
“We’ll have more as the week goes on,” Kimmel promised.
Following the first installment of “Will Santos Say It?” the disgraced politician told The Spectator World that Kimmel’s stunt may have violated Cameo’s terms of service. Santos argues that the ABC team purchased these videos on the personal use side of Cameo rather than through Cameo For Business, which charges a much higher rate.
He told the publication that his invoice to Kimmel for just four videos is “$21,800 and change,” which does not include the amount Kimmel already paid. That amount includes a “50 percent business rush rate.”
