Walt Disney has filed a lawsuit against Alphabet's YouTube in Los Angeles state court to block the appointment of Justin Connolly as YouTube's global head of media and sports, announced Thursday.
Disney alleges breach of contract, unfair competition, and interference with contractual relations, claiming YouTube knew of Connolly’s employment agreement, which extends through March 1, 2027. Connolly signed a three-year contract in November 2024, with a one-time termination right until March 2027. Disney seeks preliminary and permanent injunctions to enforce the contract.
YouTube did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment. Connolly, a former ESPN and Disney executive of over 20 years, will oversee YouTube’s relationships with major media companies and its expanding live-sports portfolio.
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Connolly recently left his role as Disney’s head of platform distribution as the company prepares to launch its ESPN sports streaming platform.
The Athletic reports Disney’s claim is that it would be “extremely prejudicial to Disney” for Connelly to breach his existing contract with Disney and “switch teams” to the company “trying to poach him.”
Despite the suit, YouTube announced Connolly’s move internally on Thursday. YouTube holds a dominant position in the marketplace and last week formally announced its partnership with the NFL to be the exclusive broadcaster for an NFL regular-season game Week 1 in Brazil between the Los Angeles Chargers and Kansas City Chiefs, anticipated to smash the record for viewership of a streamed NFL game, set last December during Netflix’s dual Christmas games.
YouTube dominates video viewing time, extending from digital devices to the TV screen, where cumulative hours watched is nearly equal to Netflix and Disney+ combined. Streaming video accounted for nearly half of all TV and streaming minutes consumed in April 2025, per Nielsen data, with YouTube accounting for 12.4% of total TV and streaming minutes in the U.S.
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