Buckle up for a cautionary tale when it comes to YouTube personalities in court. Sometimes bravado and loose statements can trip up otherwise substantial commentary and result in huge losses with a judge.
Today’s twist features the ongoing saga involving Billy Mitchell, Donkey Kong, and YouTube drama surrounding the channel operated by Karl Jobst. An Australian court has just slapped Queensland-based gaming YouTuber Karl Jobst with a hefty fine—over AU$380,000 (that’s roughly $237,000 USD)—after he went a little too far with his accusations against the infamous arcade champion.
While the substance of his claims weren’t challenged in court vis-a-vis video games, his statement that Billy Mitchel… a renowned arcade record-breaker who may have controversially achieved some records legitimately or illegitimately (I’ll leave it to the experts to figure that out)… was pleased with the self-deletion of a critic, was too much for the Australian courts.
Given the results, Jobst probably shouldn’t have played “legal expert” on his channel, essentially presenting a narrative and a revenue stream leading up to the court proceedings that would ultimately cost Jobst dearly.
Karl Jobst: “I never said the trial was about Billy Mitchell cheating.”
Here’s a compilation of two videos where he talks about the trial in depth, the latter months prior to it. He specifically says at 1:45 it was to get a judge to give an official ruling over cheating. pic.twitter.com/lQ2qHzFGqR
— Kung Fu Man (@KungFuMan316) April 2, 2025
Jobst claimed in the video to the world that it was “very stupid” for Mitchell to initiate the court proceedings. How that looked to a judge is questionable, but the results speak for themselves.
Here’s the scoop: Jobst, known for his deep dives into speedrunning and gaming controversies, published a video back in 2021 titled “The Biggest Conmen in Video Game History Strike Again!” where he took direct aim at Billy Mitchell.
Billy Mitchell on YouTube – YouTube, SmashJT
Needless to say, Jobst stirred the pot. That’s no surprise since his flavor of entertainment is a sleuth of sorts who unveils corruption and cheating quite often in his short-form documentaries. This video in question, however, implied that Mitchell’s previous settlement with late YouTuber Benjamin Smith (Apollo Legend) involved Smith paying Mitchell a massive sum of money, suggesting this directly contributed to Smith’s tragic self-initiated loss of life in 2020. Jobst went even further, alleging Mitchell “expressed joy” over Smith’s passing. The latter statement has cost Jobst a small fortune in comparison to his likely annual revenues from YouTube.
Mitchell, whose Donkey Kong high scores have sparked litigation and record disputes for years, wasn’t having it. He promptly took Jobst to court—but notably, it wasn’t about the legitimacy of his arcade records this time. Instead, Mitchell focused solely on the damaging claims about the Apollo Legend settlement.
A GoFundMe campaign started by Karl Jobst – YouTube, SmashJT
Judge Ken Barlow hit Jobst with a legal haymaker and it might have been warranted. Jobst had previously bragged online about the case and had even posted on social media in a derisive manner when Michell’s attorneys had originally asked him to revoke the statement in question. As it turns out, no money ever changed hands in Mitchell’s 2020 settlement with Apollo Legend. Smith simply agreed to remove all content related to Mitchell and assign copyrights of his videos to Mitchell. Jobst initially claimed Apollo Legend had paid $1 million to Mitchell—a claim he later edited out after Smith’s brother clarified the truth. Adding fuel to the fire, Judge Barlow highlighted that over half a million viewers saw Jobst’s original video, which prompted an avalanche of malicious comments, some even accusing Mitchell of outright murder. Jobst’s response to Mitchell’s legal warnings didn’t help matters either, as he publicly described the lawsuit as “exciting” and predicted an “amazing experience.” This is where the bravado of being a “truth-teller” on YouTube can sometimes translate very poorly to the real world, particularly when the facts are not on your side.
I lost. The judge found Billy to be a credible witness and believed his entire testimony. 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…
— Karl Jobst (@karljobstgaming) April 1, 2025
An X Post by Jobst trying to save face was hit with Community Notes that are just as brutal as the judge, although not quite as expensive.
Jobst was unable to defend at least five separate claims he made in his videos about Billy Mitchell. The legal challenge primarily contested videos which implied Mitchell’s prior behavior and legal actions may have contributed to the suicide of YouTuber Apollo Legend.
As noted, it wasn’t the credibility of a witness that damaged Jobst. Instead, it was a series of poor decisions involving a claim that couldn’t be defended and may have put other lives at risk. While Jobst may have been correct about breaking arcade records in his video (again, not something I’m going to weigh in on one way or another), that sort of issue likely pales in comparison for a court of law when compared to objectively false statements that jeopardize others both in life and in career.
The final bill for Jobst? AU$300,000 for non-economic damages, another AU$50,000 in aggravated damages, and just over AU$34,000 in interest. Judge Barlow noted Jobst might’ve deserved even harsher aggravated damages, but Mitchell capped his claim at AU$50,000—so that’s what the court awarded.
This case serves as yet another cautionary tale: sometimes the YouTube drama spills over into the real world with very real consequences. For now, Billy Mitchell once again emerges victorious, maintaining his status as one of gaming’s most controversial—and litigious—figures. Whether he’s a cheater at games from the 80’s or not, he’s quite successful thus far in taking down YouTubers who go too far and then double-down.
