Man who wrote The Lion King song sues comedian for $27m over podcast ‘joke’ and it’s wild

‘I am officially getting sued for telling a joke’

1 hour ago

Ellissa Bain | Entertainment

The man who wrote the opening chant of one of the most famous Disney songs of all time, The Lion King’s Circle of Life, is suing a comedian for a whopping $27 million for something he said on a podcast. He insists it was a “joke”.

Composer Lebohang Morake, better known as Lebo M, has accused Learnmore Mwanyenyeka, also known as Learnmore Jonasi, of intentionally mocking “the chant’s cultural significance with exaggerated imitations,” The Guardian reports. Morake wrote the opening lyrics “Nants’ingonyama bagithi Baba,” while Elton John did the music and Tim Rice wrote the lyrics.

It comes after the comedian went on the One54 podcast in February and claimed the song’s famous chant, which is written in Zulu, translates to: “Look, there’s a lion. Oh my God.” He was discussing the 1994 Disney film with hosts Akbar and Godfrey, and after they started singing it, said: “That’s not how you sing it. Don’t mess up our language like that.”

Jonasi then claimed the lyrics mean “Look, there’s a lion. Oh my god!” when translated to English. “You’re joking. That is not what that means! This whole time I thought it was like this like this beautiful, majestic…,” one of the hosts replied, and the comedian insisted that was “exactly what it means”.

According to Disney, the official translation of the line is actually: “All hail the king, we all bow in the presence of the king.”

The lawsuit was filed in a federal court in Los Angeles this month and alleges that Jonasi outlined his translation “as authoritative fact, not comedy”. Morake’s lawyers also claimed the comedian “received a standing ovation” for a similar joke about the song during a live comedy performance in LA on 12th March.

The lawyers said that “ingonyama” can translate to “lion,” but it’s used as a metaphor in the song. They alleged that the comedian intentionally misrepresented “an African vocal proclamation grounded in South African tradition”.

Jonasi has responded to the lawsuit in an Instagram video. He shared a clip of him being served the legal papers while performing on stage and said: “I am officially getting sued for telling a joke.” He then shared a snippet from the podcast and added: “And that’s why I’m getting sued for $27 million. And to make matters worse, I got served the lawsuit while I was performing on stage.”

The heartbreaking final post MAFS’ Mel Schilling shared before her death was a tragic update

I made OnlyFans content with HSTikkyTokky, this is how gross he and his comments truly are

I hate to say it, but Bonnie Blue’s filthy response to HSTikkyTokky has changed my opinion of her

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by LEARNMORE (@learnmore_jonasi)

The comedian has since launched a GoFundMe titled “Help Learnmore Fight an Unjust Lawsuit,” where he said: “My name is Learnmore Jonasi, and I am reaching out during one of the most difficult moments in my life. I was recently hit with a $27 million lawsuit by renowned artist Lebohang Morake (Lebo M) over a joke I made about the Lion King’s opening Zulu chant. What started as a bit of humour has escalated into a devastating legal battle.

“I am a passionate creator who never intended harm, but I now face overwhelming legal fees just to defend my right to speak and tell jokes. The total cost for my defence is beyond my means, and I need your help. Every donation, big or small, will directly go toward my legal representation, so I can fight this unjust claim and protect my livelihood. Please help me raise the funds needed so I can keep telling my story.”