Billy "King of Kong" Mitchell has been awarded nearly a quarter of a million dollars in damages following a court ruling that found Australian YouTuber Karl Jobst guilty of defamation.
As first reported by PC Gamer, Jobst—who is known for creating content centered around competitive gaming and speedrunning—featured Mitchell in a video titled "The Biggest Conmen in Video Game History Strike Again!" The video, which has amassed over 500,000 views, was determined by the court to contain false and unsubstantiated allegations about Mitchell.
Mitchell had previously lost his world record titles in 2018 after Twin Galaxies removed his high scores in games like Donkey Kong, Pac-Man, and Donkey Kong Jr. due to claims he used MAME emulators instead of original arcade cabinets—an act that violates official rules.
After six years of legal battles to defend his records, Mitchell successfully had his achievements reinstated as part of a “historical database” on Twin Galaxies’ website. His records were also officially recognized again by the Guinness World Records in 2020.
Photo by David Greedy/Getty Images
However, this recent defamation case against Jobst did not concern the validity of Mitchell’s Donkey Kong scores. Instead, Mitchell claimed that Jobst's 2021 video falsely suggested that Mitchell was responsible for another YouTuber, Benjamin "Apollo Legend" Smith, being forced to pay $1 million in damages and ultimately taking his own life in 2020. The video reportedly implied that Mitchell had expressed satisfaction over Smith’s death.
Jobst edited the video after Mitchell threatened legal action, and Smith’s brother later confirmed that no monetary settlement had taken place.
“I lost. The judge found Billy to be a credible witness and believed his entire testimony,” Jobst stated on X (formerly Twitter), emphasizing that he had not accused Mitchell of cheating and that his statements regarding Smith were based on incorrect information from multiple sources.
“From that point on, unfortunately, there was really nothing that could have saved me. I will now obviously consider my options. 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,” he added in a follow-up post.
He concluded: “I am proud that I never backed down and never allowed a bully to control my free expression.”
The court ordered Jobst to pay AU$300,000 ($187,800 USD) in damages for non-economic loss, AU$50,000 ($31,300 USD) in aggravated damages, and AU$34,668.50 ($22,000 USD) in interest, bringing the total to approximately $241,000 USD.
Mitchell originally gained fame in the 1980s for achieving a perfect score in Pac-Man. He later became widely recognized through the 2007 documentary The King of Kong](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0931365/), which chronicled his intense rivalry with fellow arcade legend Steve Wiebe.
