YouTube: Justin Connolly (ex-Disney) named global head of media & sports; Disney files a complaint

Justin Connolly, president of Disney Platform Distribution (the subsidiary responsible for promoting and distributing The Walt Disney Company's DtoC services and linear channels), has been appointed global head of media and sports at YouTube, a position newly created by the video platform owned by Google, according to the American business and financial news website Bloomberg on 22/05/2025.

Justin Connolly held various positions at Disney between 2003 and 2025. Before becoming president of Disney Platform Distribution, he was executive vice-president of strategy, sales and marketing at ESPN and senior vice-president of programming at the American audiovisual group owned by Disney.

On Wednesday 21/05/2025, however, Disney filed a complaint against YouTube and Justin Connolly with the Superior Court of the State of California to contest the recruitment. The media and entertainment conglomerate states that Justin Connolly signed a new three-year contract with the company in November 2024 (which he could only terminate from 01/03/2027) and that YouTube "nevertheless persisted in its…