William ‘Billy’ James Mitchell’s reputation questioned during defamation trial

An American arcade gamer suing for defamation has been accused of having an “untrustworthy” reputation in the gaming community.

The reputation of an American arcade gamer has been referred to as a “joke” as he tries to sue an Australian YouTuber and speedrunner for defamation, a court has been told.

The trial continued on Tuesday in the Brisbane District Court, where William “Billy” James Mitchell, a former world record holder for the 1981 arcade game Donkey Kong, lodged proceedings against Brisbane-based content creator Karl Jobst over comments Mr Jobst made in a YouTube video published online in May 2021.

Mr Mitchell claims Mr Jobst implied in his video that the former Donkey Kong champion had contributed to the death by suicide of another YouTuber, Ben Smith – also known as “Apollo Legend” – in 2021.

Billy Mitchell claims he was defamed over comments made in a YouTube video. Picture: NewsWire / Glenn Campbell

He further implies his reputation was impacted by Mr Jobst’s allegation.

The court was previously told Mr Smith had settled a lawsuit outside of court with Mr Mitchell after being accused of defaming the gamer in a video he had made about cheating allegations.

Mr Smith’s brother, Jesse Michael Gravelle, told the court on Tuesday that he believed Mr Mitchell’s reputation remained “unchanged” at this point in time.

Mr Jobst’s lawyer, Michael de Waard, then asked Mr Gravelle about his thoughts on Mr Mitchell’s reputation after he started pursuing legal action against his brother.

Mr Gravelle replied: “I think it (his reputation) took another hit because he (Mr Mitchell) was attacking a creator (Mr Smith) and someone who people tended to like, someone who is a little guy,” Mr Gravelle said.

“He’s just a kid who is making videos and why are you attacking him for these things.”

Mr Gravelle said he also believed Mr Mitchell’s reputation didn’t change after Mr Jobst posted his original video, adding that “it probably didn’t come as a surprise he was suing another YouTuber after the case with my brother”.

Content creator Karl Jobst is being sued for defamation. Picture: NewsWire / Glenn Campbell

The court also heard from game technician Carlos Pineiro, who had previously supported Mr Mitchell’s game history but has since claimed the gamer cheated in achieving his high scores.

Mr Pineiro said he also found Mr Mitchell’s reputation had been damaged long before Mr Jobst posted his video.

“He went from being an untrustworthy player to someone who would go after you if you spread lies,” Mr Pineiro told the court.

“He was bringing too much trouble, he was going after people who all they did was say the truth.

“The few (people) I spoke to, the general consensus was they didn’t want to be around this anymore.”

Another YouTuber, Christopher White – known online as penguinz0 – also told the court that Mr Mitchell’s reputation was “a joke” and had been the “same over the years”.

“I do not have a high regard for Mr Mitchell,” Mr White said.

“Mr Mitchell’s reputation for using lawsuits had been around for a long time.”

Mr Jobst disputes Mr Mitchell’s claims and is relying on a defence of contextual truth.

The trial continues.

Originally published as William ‘Billy’ James Mitchell’s reputation questioned during defamation trial