'King of Kong' Legend Bill Mitchell Brings His Lifelong Winning Streak to the Courts, Getting a Massive Award in a Defamation Lawsuit
By now, Billy Mitchell needs no introduction. It's the Year of Our Lord 2025. Meaning the greatest documentary of all time, King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters has been available for 17 years. To put that in perspective, it's as old now as Ghost and Pretty Woman were when it was released in 2007. Meaning you should have seen it by now. And if you haven't, I pity you and your pathetic, wasted existence.
But still, here's a refresher from the beginning of last year:
Well the winning has not stopped for Billy Mitchell. It hasn't even slowed down. He's just on this non-stop, relentless heater that continues with no end in sight. Whether it's the arcade or the courtroom, this great man is incapable of taking his foot off the gas. Or off the necks of his enemies:
Source - Arcade gamer Billy "King of Kong" Mitchell has won almost a quarter of a million dollars in damages after a court ruled Australian YouTuber Karl Jobst had defamed him.
As spotted by PC Gamer, Jobst — who specializes in content around competitive and speedrunning gaming — included Mitchell in a video entitled "The Biggest Conmen in Video Game History Strike Again!" With 500,000 views, a court agreed that Jobst's video defamed Mitchell and included inaccurate and unsubstantiated claims. …
Mitchell's defamation lawsuit against Jobst was unrelated to the legitimacy of his Donkey Kong scores. Rather, Mitchell sued because, as he alleged, Jobst's 2021 video implied that Mitchell's prior lawsuit against another YouTuber, Benjamin "Apollo Legend" Smith, resulted in the latter having to pay out $1m in damages and contributed to Smith taking his own life in 2020. It also reportedly suggested Mitchell had "expressed joy at the thought" of Smith's suicide.
Jobst later edited his video after Mitchell threatened legal action, and Smith's brother confirmed no money had been paid.
"I lost. The judge found Billy to be a credible witness and believed his entire testimony," Jobst confirmed on X/Twitter, stressing he did not accuse Mitchell of cheating, and his claims about Smith were formed by "incorrect information from multiple sources." …
The judge ordered Jobst to pay … around $241,000, saying: "[Mitchell] may well have been justified in being ordered to pay more than AU$50,000 in aggravated damages, but that is the amount being sought by Mr Mitchell and that is the amount I shall award."
I knew nothing about this lawsuit or its merits. If I had, I'd have known to a moral certainty the outcome the moment it was put on the court docket. You're not going to beat Mitchell in front of a cartoon gorilla rolling barrels at a plumber, you're not going to beat him before a judge and jury. Not at an arcade game, not in the law game, not at the game of life.
Some analytics guys argue that there's no such thing as "clutch." That it's just an illusion. Or that no one is more predisposed to winning than anyone else, it's only an anomaly that can be explained away by the numbers. To them I say, explain Billy Mitchell, then. Everything this man sets his mind to, he comes out on top. I mean, the best this Karl Jobst could hope for is that Billy would show some mercy, and he did. He was entitled to more money. Like Mel Gibson in Payback, who only wanted his $70,000 cut of the money, not a penny more. Mitchell's victory is complete with the $241,000. And like the true blue, dyed-in-the-wool, Grade A winner he is, that victory is enough.
Billy Mitchell, from King of Kong to King of Courts. From a Fistful of Quarters to a Quarter of a Million Dollars. The only question now is where he'll extend this Victory Tour to next. Now go watch the documentary. Maybe some of his success will rub off on you.