Following his departure from The Walt Disney Company this month, Disney has now filed a breach of contract lawsuit to stop former president of Disney Platform Distribution Justin Connolly from starting his new role at YouTube.
Disney Files Breach of Contract Lawsuit Against Justin Connolly and YouTube
The suit was filed Wednesday, May 21, in the Los Angeles Superior Court by employment law firm Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp, per Deadline. Disney seeks to block Connolly from being able to start his new role as the global head of media and sports for YouTube, claiming that he could share confidential information or trade secrets that belong to Disney, per The Hollywood Reporter.
In April 2025, Disney became aware of YouTube’s offer of employment to Connolly.
This news came at a critical time in Connolly’s tenure as President of Platform Distribution for Disney. Disney is in the midst of several important product launches and renegotiation of some of its largest distribution deals, and Connolly has been the architectu of Disney’s distrbution strategy and its principal negotiator.
Critically, Connolly leads the Disney team negotiating a license renewal with YouTube. Connolly has intimate knowledge of Disney’s other distribution deals, the financial details concerning Disney’s content being licensed to YouTube, and Disney’s negotiation strategies, both in general and in particular with respect to YouTube.
It would be extremely prejudicial to Disney for Connolly to breach the contract which he negotiated just a few months ago and switch teams when Disney is working on a new licensing deal with the company that is trying to poach him.
Excerpt from lawsuit filed by Disney against Connolly and YouTube
In the complaint, Disney claims a “breach of contract, tortious interference with contractual relations, and unfair competition.”
Connolly left his role at Disney after 20 years just last Friday, right as Disney was nearing major negotiations related to ESPN’s direct-to-consumer streaming service. Just last year, the executive entered a deal with Disney in which he agreed to stay with the Mouse through the end of 2027; under these terms he was “barred from engaging in dealings with competitors and had a one-time right to terminate the agreement for any reason as long as he provided written notice of his intent to exercise the provision.”
Both Disney and YouTube declined to comment on the story to Deadline, with the former also declining to comment to The Hollywood Reporter. YouTube didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment to THR.
“As a direct and proximate result of Connolly’s breach of the Employment Agreement, Disney has been harmed and will continue to be harmed,” said Disney in the filing. “Connolly threatens to, and unless restrained, will continue to breach the Employment Agreement, to Disney and its affiliates’ great and irreparable injury, for which damages would not afford adequate relief, in that they would not completely compensate for Disney’s injuries.”
Source: Deadline, The Hollywood Reporter
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