Donkey Kong record-holder Billy Mitchell ‘defamed’ by Brisbane YouTuber’s ‘heinous’ death video

A famous American gamer who was once accused of cheating to attain a world record Donkey Kong score has appeared in a Brisbane court for his defamation trial against a Queensland YouTuber.

William “Billy” Mitchell, 59, took the stand in Brisbane District Court on Monday to give evidence during the first day of the week-long trial wearing a black suit and black shirt with his signature beard and long black hair.

American professional arcade gamer William ‘Billy’ Mitchell.

The American gamer is suing Karl Jobst, 38, for defamation over a video the Brisbane-based YouTuber created in May 2021.

In the video, Jobst discussed the American gamer’s prior legal cases against other YouTube creators who questioned his gaming records.

Before Judge Ken Barlow, Mitchell described Jobst’s video as “heinous” and claimed it contained false and defamatory statements that he could not ignore.

Mitchell rose to fame in the 1980s and ’90s after gaining high scores in arcade video games including Donkey Kong and Pac-Man.

William ‘Billy’ Mitchell claims a video by a Brisbane YouTuber links him to the suicide of another YouTube creator.

Mitchell regained public attention through the 2007 documentary King of Kong and later saw the legitimacy of his high scores challenged amid allegations he had used non-original arcade cabinets to aid his gaming performance.

Guinness World Records removed many of Mitchell’s highest achievements before reinstating them in 2018 as a result of legal action.

Mitchell told the court the King of Kong film was edited for dramatic effect as he reclaimed his Donkey Kong high score against little-known player Steven Wiebe.

“I became the bad guy,” Mitchell said.

The American gamer said he had been recognised by strangers every day since the film came out and had been invited to make paid appearances at gaming events in Australia and interviews with Australian media organisations.

Mitchell was the subject of a 2007 documentary King of Kong.

Mitchell’s barrister Peter Somers said the current case concerned “not whether my client cheated” but a video Jobst published on May 26, 2021 that in part discussed his client’s previous defamation case against another YouTuber, American creator Ben Smith, who was known online as ‘Apollo Legend’.

Somers said the video contained the imputation that Mitchell demanded a large sum of money from Smith.

It also implied, he claimed, that the defamation case against Smith was a “significant factor in Mr Smith taking own life” and he had “hounded Mr Smith to death”.

The judge was handed a collection of nearly 400 comments made by viewers of Jobst’s video that included the statement “he killed Apollo” and claims Smith’s family should sue for wrongful death.

Jobst has denied his video carried those imputations.

Somers said Jobst’s video had been viewed by more than 549,000 unique devices during the 14 days it was available in its original form and Australia was among the top locations where the video was viewed.

The judge was shown a video made by Smith about his decision to take his own life that did not mention Mitchell or any litigation.

Somers said Mitchell’s settlement several months earlier did not require Smith to pay him damages or legal costs.

The trial continues.

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AAP