Arcade gaming legend Billy "King of Kong" Mitchell has been awarded nearly a quarter of a million dollars in damages following a successful defamation lawsuit against Australian YouTuber Karl Jobst. As reported by PC Gamer, Jobst, known for his content on competitive and speedrunning gaming, featured Mitchell in a video titled "The Biggest Conmen in Video Game History Strike Again!" The video, which garnered 500,000 views, was found by the court to contain defamatory, inaccurate, and unsubstantiated claims about Mitchell.
Mitchell's gaming accolades came under scrutiny in 2018 when his scores were removed from Twin Galaxies' leaderboards amid allegations that he used a MAME (Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator) instead of arcade cabinets to achieve his records in games like Donkey Kong, Pac-Man, and Donkey Kong Jr., which violates the rules. After a six-year battle, Mitchell succeeded in having his records reinstated in a "historical database" on Twin Galaxies' website. Additionally, his high scores were recognized again by the Guinness World of Records in 2020.
The defamation lawsuit Mitchell filed against Jobst was not related to the validity of his Donkey Kong scores. Instead, Mitchell claimed that Jobst's 2021 video wrongly implied that his previous lawsuit against YouTuber Benjamin "Apollo Legend" Smith led to Smith paying $1 million in damages and contributed to Smith's tragic suicide in 2020. The video also allegedly suggested that Mitchell had taken pleasure in the thought of Smith's suicide.
Following legal threats from Mitchell, Jobst edited the video. Smith's brother later confirmed that no money was exchanged. Jobst acknowledged his defeat on X/Twitter, clarifying that he did not accuse Mitchell of cheating but had relied on incorrect information from multiple sources regarding Smith.
"I lost. The judge found Billy to be a credible witness and believed his entire testimony," Jobst stated, adding, "From that point on unfortunately there was really nothing that could have saved me. I will now obviously consider my options."
Expressing his regret to his supporters, Jobst said, "I know many of you will be upset with this and I am sorry for that. Thank you again for all the support I have received and I will endeavor to work as hard as I can to repay all that you are owed."
In a subsequent update, Jobst proudly declared, "I am proud that I never backed down and never allowed a bully to control my free expression."
The court ordered Jobst to pay Mitchell $187,800 (AU$300,000) for non-economic loss, $31,300 (AU$50,000) for aggravated damages, and $22,000 (AU$34,668.50) in interest, totaling approximately $241,000. The judge remarked, "[Mitchell] may well have been justified in being ordered to pay more than AU$50,000 in aggravated damages, but that is the amount being sought by Mr Mitchell and that is the amount I shall award."
Mitchell gained fame for achieving a perfect score in Pac-Man in the '80s and further rose to prominence through the 2007 documentary, King of Kong, which chronicled his rivalry with Steve Wiebe.
