All of the Disney-owned channels might vanish from YouTube TV on Thursday, but the Bob Iger-led platform and the Google-owned platform have come to a détente over an executive they both wanted working for them.
An order reported placed in the Los Angeles Superior Court docket on Wednesday that, “A Notice of Settlement of Entire Case has been filed in this case.”
Therefore, the “entire case” Disney and YouTube refer to the breach of contract suit that the Mouse House filed in June to prevent YouTube from taking over distribution executive Justin Connolly.
The current order is a follow-up on a filing late Tuesday by the lawyers of Disney at Mitchell Silberberg and Knupp, initially stating an agreement had been procured over the highly sought-after Connolly.
Tuesday’s documents reported that “The settlement agreement conditions dismissal of this matter on the satisfactory completion of specified terms that are not to be performed within 45 days of the date of the settlement.”
It further added, “A request for dismissal will be filed no later than (date): January 5, 2026.”
An early morning hearing regarding the dismissal is scheduled for that date in downtown Los Angeles.
The settlement details remain confidential. In June, Judge James C. Chalfant denied Disney’s request for a restraining order against Connolly, who now works at YouTube. This indicated a setback for Disney at that stage.
The company was contacted this morning by Deadline, but they simply replied that “the parties have settled their dispute.”
The Jones Day attorneys at YouTube did not reply when they were requested to comment on the settlement and the case condition.
At the beginning of the summer, Disney had been requesting a preliminary injunction to prevent Connolly, the former Disney president who had just resigned to take a new position at a Google-owned platform as global head of media and sports.
Arguing that the long-term employee was leaving behind a substantial amount of Disney institutional memory, the Burbank-based firm also pointed out the fact that the executive signed a new contract as of November 2024, which was to commence January 1, 2025, and December 31, 2027.
Disney stated in its initial filing that “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.”
Thus, the argument did not go far with the judge, as it became clear a couple of months later.
The move to end the restraining order of Disney also could have been because of the guardrails that the global video platform claimed it was erecting around Connolly in his new YouTube gig.
In its own response filing in June, YouTube told it that “not be involved in any capacity with YouTube’s license agreement negotiations with Disney.”
As a matter of fact, they stipulated that his new employment deal “demands that he continue to adhere to his confidentiality obligations to Disney, and confirms he cannot bring, use, or disclose any of Disney’s confidential or proprietary information during his work at YouTube.”
By denying the restraining order and permitting Connolly to begin working at YouTube, Chalfant did open the door for Disney to “file a motion for preliminary injunction.”
However, it obviously took another turn, which was made clear in the filings this week.
