Former Donkey Kong High Score champion Billy Mitchell, successfully sued YouTuber Karl Jobst in response to a series of accusations that Jobst made about him.
In several YouTube videos, Jobst alleged that Mitchell had cheated to achieve his previous world record scores for Donkey Kong, an claim that Mitchell has been fighting for some time.
Jobst also made stronger accusations about Mitchell, including a statement that Mitchell’s demand against YouTuber Ben Smith (also known as Apollo’s Legend) was “a significant factor” on Smith that took his life.
Mitchell replied demanding Jobst for defamation, and has now been considered successful after the Brisbane District Court was in his favor (as reported by The Guardian), and Judge Ken Barlow found five defamatory charges separated by Jobst.
Jobst has been ordered to pay AU $ 350,000 ($ 220,000) plus interest and costs, Mitchell – $ 300,000 in additional damage and $ 50,000 in aggravated damage after Jobst’s decision to publish the video for the second time, ‘mock’ of Mitchell’s complaint.
Jobst published a statement in X in which he went to the judge’s findings and apologized to his followers, some of whom had financed their legal costs.
“I lost,” he wrote. “The judge found that Billy was a credible witness and believed that all his testimony. From that moment, unfortunately, there really was nothing that would have saved me. Now I will obviously consider my options.
“I know that many of you will be upset with this and I feel it. Thank you again for all the support I have received and I will strive to work as hard as I can pay everything that is owed.”
In a series of short publications in X, Mitchell published “nothing like the smell of victory in the afternoon air”, “Billy Mitchell always has a plan” and “thanks to all who supported me, I am grateful.”
Mitchell found fame in the 1980s and 1990s when claiming high scores in games such as Donkey Kong and Pac-Man. He obtained another spell in the center of attention when he was portrayed as the antagonist in the documentary The King of Kong: a handful of rooms, in which the newcomer Steve Wiebe tries to beat his score.
The Donkey Kong High Score classification table has advanced since the days of Wiebe vs Mitchell, with modern tables dominated by John McCurdy and the current Robbie Lakeman champion.
