Disney Can't Stop Justin Connolly Working At YouTube As Court Says Fuhgeddaboudit

Despite the best legal efforts of the Walt Disney Company, looks like Justin Connolly is going to be working at YouTube.
A LA Superior Court judge this morning pulled the plug on the Bob Iger-run Mouse House's efforts to hit the pause button on the so-called poaching of the recently departed president of Disney Platform Distribution. Which means Connolly can start putting his family photos on the windowsill of his new office and measuring the drapes at his new big job at the Google-owned platform as global head of media and sports.
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'The Ex Parte Application FOR TEMPORARY RESTRAINING ORDER; FOR ISSUANCE OF AN OSC RE: PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION filed by Disney Media & Entertainment Distribution LLC, a Delaware Limited Liability Company on 05/29/2025 is Denied,' wrote Judge James C. Chalfant Wednesday after a heavily lawyered up hearing on the media giants' melee.
With attorneys from Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp (for Disney) and Jones Day (for YouTube) in the courtroom, Judge Chalfant outline the reasoning behind his decision that kiboshed WDC's desire to hold Connolly to his January 1, 2025 to December 31, 2027 employment contract signed last year:
The application is denied for the following reasons:
1. Lack of showing of emergency;
2. Balance of harms works in favor or Mr. Connolly;
3. Plaintiff has not demonstrated a probability of success on the merits
However, as Connolly sets up shop at the world's most watched platform (which does have TV as well as all those Storror and cat videos you know), the judge did give Disney a bit of wiggle room. 'Plaintiff may file a motion for preliminary injunction in the independent calendar court, he said. 'Plaintiff must comply with Code of Civil Procedure 1008(b) if the motion is renewed.'
Google/YouTube have not responded to request from Deadline for comment on their and Connelly's win, but a Disney spokesperson kept it short and bittersweet. 'We are disappointed in today's ruling, but will continue to pursue our legal remedies,' he said.
Today's ruling comes just two days after YouTube clapped back on Disney's move to stop Connolly from taking his duties of a 'special, unique, unusual, extraordinary, or intellectual character, which gives them peculiar value' at his old company to his new one. Seeking the now-failed injunction, Disney back in late May said 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.'
Not so much said YouTube, promising vet exec Connolly would have nothing to do with any licensing deal Not the Google division didn't take a bigger picture approach itself, with a slap on the home of Scrooge McDuck. 'Disney made clear that it intends to use Mr. Connolly as a pawn to advance the renegotiation of its license renewal with YouTube,' the platform's June 2 opposition filing proclaimed. Then getting down into the specifics, YouTube added: 'Nor is emergency relief appropriate here when Disney has known for over six weeks that Mr. Connolly intended to leave Disney and join YouTube.'
And, let's just call that buffering.
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