Disney has taken another step in its legal battle against YouTube over the alleged poaching of top distribution executive Justin Connolly.
Awful Announcing has learned that Disney has filed for an appeal over a judge’s decision earlier this month that denied the company a preliminary injunction and temporary restraining order (TRO) against YouTube and Connolly. In seeking the injunction, Disney claimed that they were put at a “competitive disadvantage” against YouTube when Connolly, a 25-year veteran of Disney who oversaw key distribution deals with cable, satellite, and virtual television providers, departed for the Google-owned platform months before they were due to negotiate a carriage renewal with Disney.
When denying the injunction and TRO, Judge James C. Chalfant wrote that Disney’s application “[had] not demonstrated a probability of success on the merits” and did not sufficiently convey the immediacy necessary to warrant an injunction.
Shortly before agreeing to serve as YouTube’s head of global sports, Connolly signed a new employment agreement with Disney through March 2027. In Disney’s initial filing requesting the injunction and TRO, the company claimed that “Connolly’s departure would leave Disney exposed to the competitive disadvantage of having a key executive switch sides mid-deal with inside information” and that “Disney would incur those disadvantages despite having secured Connolly’s exclusive services until March 2027, at considerable expense, in a recently signed and binding fixed-term employment agreement.”
After the initial complaint, YouTube issued its own filing claiming that Connolly would not be party to any upcoming negotiations between YouTube and Disney. Communication between the two companies submitted to the court shows that YouTube maintained this position well before the lawsuit was filed.
Disney’s current distribution deal with YouTube is set to expire in October, meaning the next few months will be a crucial negotiating period to secure Disney-owned networks, such as ESPN, on YouTube TV.
Before the appeal, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court on Friday, the next hearing in the case was set for July 15.
