Karl Jobst sues Billy Mitchell over defamation, likeness use, emotional distress

Billy Mitchell’s arcade feud with Karl Jobst has moved from scoreboards and YouTube feuds into federal court, with Jobst filing suit in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida and accusing Mitchell of unauthorized use of his name or likeness, defamation, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Jobst filed the case on April 6 and is proceeding pro se, meaning he is representing himself.

The complaint pushes the conflict beyond online trash talk and into damage claims. Jobst says Mitchell’s conduct caused severe emotional distress, humiliation, and ongoing harm, language that turns a decades-old gaming grudge into a direct attack on reputation and livelihood. Mitchell, the former Donkey Kong high-score holder who has spent years at the center of competitive gaming controversy, has already been accused in the filing of making statements that implied fraud and financial misconduct.

The new lawsuit lands just after Mitchell scored a major win in Australia. In March 2025, a Queensland court awarded him AU$350,000 after ruling against Jobst in Mitchell’s defamation case, which centered on Jobst’s videos linking Mitchell to the death of YouTuber Benjamin “Apollo Legend” Smith and calling Mitchell a “con man.” That case made clear how far the fight had drifted from arcade trivia and into reputational warfare, where a creator’s channel, audience trust, and public identity can all become part of the damage.

The legal backdrop goes back even further. Twin Galaxies stripped Mitchell’s Donkey Kong scores in 2018 after cheating allegations, and Guinness World Records later removed them as well. Mitchell sued Twin Galaxies in 2019, and that case ended in a confidential settlement announced in January 2024. Later reporting said Mitchell’s historical records were restored or reinstated in some form after the settlement, adding another twist to a dispute that has already produced reversals, settlements, and years of argument over what happened on original arcade hardware.

Jobst’s reach makes the new case harder to ignore. His YouTube channel lists about 1.05 million subscribers, which puts him squarely inside the speedrunning and gaming-drama ecosystem where Mitchell has been a recurring villain, target, and headline generator. With both men now trading defamation claims and public accusations, the old Donkey Kong fight has become a test case for how internet fame, legal pressure, and creator reputations collide when the drama refuses to die.