Billy Mitchell is a popular gamer known for his “Donkey Kong” and “Pac-Man” speedruns. However, throughout his career, he has been accused of cheating many times, most famously by Karl Jobst.

In May 2021, Jobst posted a YouTube video claiming that Mitchell cheated in his Donkey Kong speedruns and insinuated that Mitchell contributed to the suicide of another creator, Ben Smith (Mitchell had previously sued Smith for defamation, but the case was settled out of court).

Mitchell’s legal team claimed that Jobst’s video about him led MoistCritical, who is much more popular and therefore influential, to make a video bashing Mitchell about his suspected cheating. They claimed this has harmed his career drastically since his mental health has declined significantly. It has also reduced his usual 20 to 25 annual convention appearances to about four or five, which is a huge loss of revenue for Mitchell.

In my opinion, Mitchell’s case is absurd. He is suing for $450,000 in damages, and if he loses, he will have to pay Jobst’s legal fees, which Jobst has stated are about $400,000. He has been known to sue for defamation, but most have been settled out of court or dropped. The claim that Jobst’s video has affected his reputation that much is ridiculous, considering it only affected his credibility in the gaming community. Though it is awful to have others question your integrity, especially on such a large scale, it comes with the job. He chose to pursue a career in gaming, creating content, and making appearances at conventions, so, much like celebrities, people will inevitably speak badly about him. Regarding his decrease in convention appearances, he was not uninvited to them but instead decided not to attend because he did not want to face backlash from critics. So, the loss in revenue is his fault, and Jobst cannot be blamed.

Though it was an extreme claim for Jobst to imply a causal relationship between Mitchell’s lawsuit against Smith and his passing soon after, he did not put the entire burden of Smith’s death on Mitchell. He also stated that Smith had prevalent health conditions that were taking a huge toll on his well-being. Smith even stated before his passing that the lawsuit was very stressful for him, so this combined with his health conditions was too much to bear.

Therefore, I don’t think Mitchell should win the defamation lawsuit, as the slander has no substantial effect on his name. The final decision will not be released for about a month and a half, but this suit’s publicity has brought a ton of attention to all creators. With this comes more views and income, so even if Mitchell loses, at least he has that.