A famous arcade gamer and former Donkey Kong world record holder is suing an Australian YouTuber.
William “Billy” James Mitchell has filed a lawsuit against Brisbane-based YouTuber Karl Jobst over comments Jobst made in a YouTube video posted online in May 2021.
Mitchell claims Jobst defamed him when he said in the video that the player had contributed to the suicide death of another YouTuber, Ben Smith, also known as ‘Apollo Legend’, in 2021.
Mr Mitchell, 59, rose to fame in 1982 when he set world records for playing the hit arcade games Donkey Kong and Pac Man.
His lawyer, Peter Somers, told the Brisbane District Court on Monday that his client had sued Smith for defamation in February 2020 over allegations the YouTuber had made that Mitchell had “cheated on world records”.
The lawsuit was eventually settled out of court and did not involve any monetary value, Somers said.
Mr Mitchell maintains that Mr Jobst falsely claimed that the player callously expressed his joy at Mr Smith’s death.
“Several months after the settlement, Mr. Smith sadly took his own life,” Somers said.
William ‘Billy’ James Mitchell (pictured) has filed a lawsuit against Brisbane-based YouTuber Karl Jobst over comments Jobst made in a YouTube video.
Mr Mitchell claims Jobst (pictured) defamed him when he said in the video that the gamer had contributed to the suicide death of another YouTuber in 2021.
‘He posted a video on YouTube.
‘In essence, this is about addressing… (that) Mr Smith did not blame anyone for his subsequent actions in taking his own life.’
The video Mr Smith posted on YouTube before his death was played in court on the first day of the trial on Monday.
Jobst’s video was also played in court. It included allegations that Smith had taken his own life after facing financial difficulties as a result of Mitchell’s lawsuit.
Mr Somers said the allegations linking his client to Mr Smith’s death described in Mr Jobst’s video had affected Mr Mitchell and “his reputation”.
Mr Somers said there was also “a lot of public comment” about the Jobst video that was the subject of Mitchell’s complaint.
A video posted online by Mr Mitchell was also played in court, in which he addresses his online followers about Mr Jobst’s “most heinous allegations”.
“Jobst openly claims that I drove Apollo to suicide,” Mitchell said in the video.
“Those claims and that story are demonstrably false. They are a total lie.”
Mr Mitchell went on to explain in the video that “no financial transaction ever took place” between him and Mr Smith.
“The reality is that we reached an agreement and then each went their own way,” he said in the video.
“The deal had no impact on his life, contrary to what Jobst says. I didn’t want to ruin his life.
“His health was a big factor in why I stepped away.”
Mr Mitchell claimed in the video that Jobst had “wanted to rile up the emotions of his viewers” by making a “very calculated” accusation against him.
In court, Mr Mitchell said he was “absolutely angry” and “shocked” when he first saw the video of Jobst.
“I was totally lost, honestly, when I heard the words and continued watching the video, I was completely terrified,” he said.
‘Mr Jobst had opened up a whole new spectrum of defamation.
‘No one in my life, at any point in my life, had ever accused me of anything like that, of bullying a young man into committing suicide.
“No one had ever made such an accusation against me. I was completely lost.”
Mitchell said his health deteriorated after the video, where he lost 11kg and was unable to eat for two weeks.
Mr Mitchell (pictured outside court) maintains Mr Jobst falsely claimed the player callously expressed joy at Mr Smith’s death.
Mr Mitchell, 59, rose to fame in 1982 when he set world records for playing hit arcade games Donkey Kong (pictured) and Pac Man.
He told the court that after the video was posted, the organizer cancelled at least three engagements to appear at gaming conventions.
One event is estimated to have earned Mr Mitchell $50,000 if he had appeared, he told the court.
“As a business decision, (the organizer explained that) he felt he needed to cancel our agreement and the specific reason was the negativity surrounding me regarding the unemployment allegations,” Mitchell said.
She said people keep asking her about the allegations whenever she does interviews or meets with fans, which “brings back” the anxiety she felt when the video was posted.
Mitchell said she lived in “absolute terror” because she felt there was “absolutely nothing” she could do to stop Jobst from posting the allegations in the video.
The court was told Mitchell had sought legal advice in Australia over the Jobst video and that legal discussions were underway, but that Jobst would post those documents online for the public to see.
“No matter what happened, if he got a public rebuttal from us … he just kept coming,” Mitchell said.
Previously, Mr Mitchell claimed that Jobst had made several other damning allegations that the player had cheated to obtain his world records.
The court was told that Mitchell had lost several world records after an investigation by Guinness World Records and video game database Twin Galaxies (which records the high scores of classic video games) revoked his titles.
However, most of them have since been reinstated, the court was told.
Mr Somers said it was not for the presiding judge, Ken Barlow KC, to determine whether Mr Mitchell had cheated as that was no longer part of the defamation case.
Mr. Jobst relies on a legal defense of truth.
Mr Mitchell describes himself as a professional video game player and “film personality”.
He is expected to testify on Monday afternoon.