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

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.

William “Billy” James Mitchell, a former world record holder for the 1981 arcade game Donkey Kong, has 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.

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

The trial continued on Tuesday in the Brisbane District Court.

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 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.”

“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”.

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, Charles 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.”

Meanwhile, Brisbane Pinball and Arcade Collective (BPAC) director, James Angliss – also known as Jimmy Nails – told the court he’d previously booked Mr Mitchell for various events in Australia.

Mr Angliss, who also owns arcade bar Netherworld in Fortitude Valley, said he was aware of Mr Mitchell’s cheating allegations, which were first raised in 2018, but ultimately booked him for an event in 2019, where only Mr Mitchell’s costs were covered.

When asked why Mr Mitchell’s appearance was still sought despite his reputation having “tanked,” Mr Angliss said he felt he could “handle him”.

“We were warned about his behaviour,” Mr Angliss said.

“I figured we could handle it. I believed I could handle it.

“People would come to see someone who is famous and infamous and get a signature (from someone) they like or dislike and as the director of BPAC it was my job to sell tickets.”

However, Mr Angliss said had the 2019 BPAC event happened a few months later, he probably would have cancelled Mr Mitchell’s appearance because his reputation was “tanking”.

“People threatened to boycott the event,” he said.

“I believed I could handle it and I did handle it well but there were people who were very upset.

The court was told Mr Angliss’ bar, Netherworld, had organised a fundraiser to help raise money to support Mr Jobst’s legal fees ahead of the defamation trial, which were donated to a GoFundMe campaign.

When Mr Mitchell’s lawyer, Peter Somers, questioned that Mr Angliss’ reasoning for appearing in court was that it would “suit your business to assist him in these proceedings”, Mr Angliss replied: “No”.

The court previously was told a GoFundMe campaign had been launched to assist Mr Jobst’s legal fees.

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

The trial continues on Friday.

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