Rumor: YouTuber Apollo Legend May Face Legal Battle Over Billy Mitchell [Updated]

Hugh Anderson,

March 15, 2018 2:35 PM

It would appear that Apollo Legend flew to Florida, attended an arcade event dressed like Billy Mitchell, and tried to secretly record proof that Billy is a fraud. Days later, lawyers called him.

Update (3/22/2018)

This article has been heavily edited from its original form. It was presented with characterizations of parties (i.e. Apollo Legend) that were not intended when the story was brought to light. The original article entered circulation and was in the ether for all to see before the proper parties could make the proper judgement calls to remove the bias therein. At this point, a week later from original publication, this is not an attempt to erase history so much as it is an attempt to right a wrong. Twin Galaxies Editorial has strived to build itself upon sharing the best of the video game community and supporting great player achievement, not smearing any particular individual regardless of their beliefs. Unfortunately, a biased article slipped by and it's on us to answer for it.

Allowing this story to go out in its original form was a failure on TG Editorial's part on many levels. We cannot and do not expect anyone to forget, nor do we expect anyone to cut us slack. We hold ourselves to a standard of professionalism and everyone else should as well. We can only apologize and attempt to do better. And so we do. Twin Galaxies Editorial apologizes to Apollo Legend and the Twin Galaxies community. The appropriate parties have been reprimanded or removed and the lesson has been taken to heart.

Below is the story as it was intended to be written, with only the information we have at this juncture and the facts as they appear to be so far.

~Twin Galaxies Editorial Staff


Apollo Legend, YouTube content creator, has become known in the past months for his videos which pulls various evidence together and places scrutiny on past Twin Galaxies legends that have been under the microscope in disputes. One of his subjects was the now-banned Todd Rogers, but more recently, he's set his sights on the King of Kong, Billy Mitchell. 

Just about one week after the Todd Rogers ruling, Mitchell came under fire for allegedly cheating during his 2010 Donkey Kong record. Donkey Kong-specific website, DonkeyKongForums, removed his score after the case was reopened after being dormant for nearly four months. On February 17, 2018, Apollo Legend posted a nearly 15 minute video showing a collection of proof he felt placed Mitchell's world records under further doubt. This may have led to his efforts to further prove his case by meeting Mitchell in person.

(Editors’ Note: Twin Galaxies Editorial and the Adjudication Team are completely separate entities under the same website. Although the Editorial Team investigates on their own, the decisions made on disputes lie entirely on the Adjudication Team and is not influenced by Editorial. We seriously have no say in the outcome of score disputes.)

While the Twin Galaxies Adjudication and Admin teams continue to work on the ongoing investigation into the open dispute again Billy Mitchell, Editorial caught wind of some curious actions by Apollo following his video. 

It started with this tweet:

Just one week after Apollo Legend posted the Mitchell video, February 24, the "Retro Arcade Night" was set to happen at the Fort Lauderdale, Florida based-Arcade Game Sales building. It was at this event that Apollo made a surprise appearance, apparently having flown down to Florida to attend and cosplaying as Billy Mitchell himself. They met face to face and even took a picture together.

Source: Twin Galaxies/ Steve Kleisath
Billy Mitchell and Apollo Legend taking a photo together during the event. Source: Twin Galaxies/ Steve Kleisath

Prior to knowing of any cause behind the reason for Apollo's attendance in the event, Steve Kleisath, friend of both Billy Mitchell and Robert Childs (the owner of Arcade Game Sales), spoke nicely about Apollo.

"We give a special thanks to 'Apollo Legend'," Kleisath said on a Twin Galaxies forum post, "Youtube footage man for taking the time to come to the event, support the cause, and watch Billy Mitchell play Donkey Kong throughout the course of the night and get to meet myself, Robert Childs, Carlos Pineiro and discuss in a friendly and objective manner, many of the questions and aspects to the DK game footage that has been under scrutiny. Bill wanted me to relay that it was a pleasure for Bill to introduce Apollo to his family, show Apollo the DK machine, the inner workings in the back of the machine and field questions from him and his friend regarding the controversy, along with Robert and Carlos chiming in with their answers and information to his questions. It is greatly appreciated that Apollo took the time to come out and experience our event and get to know each other and have fun, which is the true spirit of what gaming and community should be. He also came dressed like Bill, which was hilarious!"

Although Kleisath's impression was positive, multiple anonymous sources paint a different picture. According to anonymous sources, Apollo carried hidden audio devices on his person while someone else, unnamed, took "Several GBs" of video. This coincides with tweets Apollo made following the event in which he promised his fans an exposive story. 

Although the specifics of Apollo's actions are a mystery, there is proof that he may have crossed a line. Twin Galaxies Editorial reached out directly to Robert Childs to confirm details of the incident. While Childs did not share much in the way of specifics on what exactly happened, he did claim that actions Apollo took at the event were enough to invite legal action into the situation.

In Childs' own words via email correspondence, "Yes, Apollo did break numerous laws that night and he is currently learning what a good attorney is capable of."

Apollo Legend has been more than a little quiet since he returned from his encounter at Retro Arcade Night. As of this writing, his last tweet was on February 26th, claiming a video was in the works. While he usually replies and talks via Twitter and posts videos via his YouTube, he's kept uncharacteristically quiet in the time since the event.

So, what exactly happened? Did Apollo Legend find the coup de grce in his encounter with Billy? Did he receive a simple cease and desist or was there action enough that Apollo faces a more drastic legal battle?

As this point, the facts we know are that Apollo was in Florida, he met Billy and Robert Childs in person, and he did something enough that Childs has confirmed that lawyers are involved. Meanwhile, the case against Billy Mitchell lingers on. While evidence is discerned and tested and a case is built, much of the Twin Galaxies community awaits an answer to the case that has been brought against Billy Mitchell's legacy.

We will report on further information as the story develops.



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