Court: King of Kong’s Billy Mitchell Isn’t an Exploding, Floating Cartoon Head
If you watched the 2007 documentary The King of Kong or follow the insular world of arcade high score competitions, you know Billy Mitchell as a controversial, bearded braggadocio who sells hot sauce and was the first person to ever play a perfect game of Pac-Man. You probably don’t think of Mitchell as a giant, floating head from outer space named Garrett Bobby Ferguson (“GBF”) who cries, tries to cheat, and then explodes when he loses a game.
New Jersey Circuit Court Judge Anne E. Thompson is confident you can tell those two descriptions apart. She recently threw out a complaint Mitchell made against Cartoon Network and the makers of Regular Show, where Mitchell argued the character GBF violated his right to publicity by serving as an unauthorized use of his likeness.
To be sure, there are some similarities between Mitchell and the very fictional GBF. They both have similar hairstyles, hair colors, and beards. They’re both known largely for doing well at video games. They are both “arrogant yet successful, beloved by fans, and willing to go to great lengths to maintain their titles,” as Thompson puts it in her entertaining ruling.
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