George Santos tried to sue Jimmy Kimmel. A federal judge just threw his case out.

Former congressman George Santos’s (R-NY) lawsuit against Jimmy Kimmel over the late-night host’s Cameo video pranks was dismissed by a federal judge yesterday.

Yesterday was a big day in court for Santos, who also pled guilty to two felony federal charges of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. Santos sued Kimmel in February, saying that Kimmel bought videos from Santos on Cameo “for the sole purpose of capitalizing on and ridiculing [Santos’] gregarious personality.”

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George Santos sobs during apology for crimes he has spent months denying

After calling the case against him a “witch hunt,” Santos is now apologizing for not doing his job “with honor.”

After he was expelled from Congress, Santos joined Cameo, a video-sharing website where celebrities sell personalized videos. Santos’ lawsuit against Kimmel said that Kimmel engaged in “deliberate deception and wrongful appropriation” when he submitted requests for Cameo videos under fake names for a segment on Jimmy Kimmel Live! called “Will Santos Say It?”

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Santos accused Kimmel and ABC of committing copyright infringement, fraudulent inducement, breach of contract and unjust enrichment. U.S. District Judge Denise Cote disagreed and dismissed all four claims in a Monday ruling.

Cote said that Kimmel’s airing of the videos was protected by “fair use” exemptions to copyright laws because the videos were “used for political commentary and criticism.”

Santos left Congress after a House Ethics Committee report found “substantial evidence” that he used campaign funds for his personal expenses and “sought to fraudulently exploit every aspect of his House candidacy for his own personal financial profit.” He is also well known for lying about his education, job history, and biography.

“It’s clear to me now that I allowed ambition to cloud my judgment, leading me to make decisions that were unethical and guilty,” Santos said outside the courthouse yesterday when he pled guilty.

“Pleading guilty is a step I never imagined I’d take, but it is a necessary one because it is the right thing to do. It’s not only a recognition of my misrepresentations to others, but more profoundly, it is my own recognition of the lies I told myself over these past years.”

For his part, Kimmel said on the show that “it would be like a dream come true” to be sued by Santos.

“Can you imagine if I get sued by George Santos for fraud? I mean, how good would that be?” Kimmel joked in his monologue.

At the time, Santos told the New York Post, “Jimmy, sorry that my Christmas gift to you came late, but here’s to making wishes come true. I hope you enjoy reading your lawsuit for fraud that you’ve been looking forward to.”

In her 27-page decision, Cote wrote that “in short, a reasonable observer would understand that [Jimmy Kimmel Live] showed the Videos to comment on the willingness of Santos — a public figure who had recently been expelled from Congress for allegedly fraudulent activity including enriching himself through a fraudulent contribution scheme — to say absurd things for money.”

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