Copyright The Hollywood Reporter
YouTube has settled a lawsuit from Disney over its hiring of longtime company executive Justin Connolly to serve in a newly-created role as global head of media and sports. Disney on Tuesday notified the court of a deal to resolve the breach of contract lawsuit. Terms of the settlement weren’t disclosed, though it’s conditioned on the completion of certain unspecified terms within 45 days. Connolly and Disney last year entered into a deal in which he agreed to stay with the company until the end of 2027, according to the complaint. Under the terms, he was barred from engaging in dealings with competitors and had a onetime right to terminate the agreement for any reason as long as he provided written notice of his intent to exercise the provision. Connolly notified Disney of his resignation in May during its roll out of a new ESPN streaming service. The lawsuit, which sought a court order to block the hiring, accused YouTube of inducing Connolly into breaching his deal. Despite knowing of Connolly’s exclusive deal with Disney, the company offered Connolly a job to spearhead its media and sports division. Per the complaint, Disney learned of YouTube’s offer in April during a critical time in Connolly’s 20-year-plus tenure during which the company was in the midst of several important product launches and renegotiations of some of its largest distribution deals. Notably, Connolly led the Disney team negotiating a license renewal with YouTube. Disney took issue with the hiring because Connolly had intimate knowledge of Disney’s other distribution deals, the financial details concerning content being licensed to YouTube and negotiation strategies.
