A comedian who recently made a joke about The Lion King’s most iconic music is being sued to the tune of $27 million. Spoiler alert: It’s not Disney who’s suing.
NBC reports South African comedian Learnmore Jonasi is being sued by Lebohang Morake — the Grammy-winning composer responsible for the Zulu vocal chant in the “Circle of Life” — after Jonasi jokingly mistranslated the chant’s meaning during a podcast appearance.
In February, Jonasi made an appearance on the One54 Africa podcast where, after the host of the podcast sang the chant, Jonasi claimed the host had “said nothing” — implying the chant was meaningless. Then, after singing the chant himself, Jonasi joked, “It means, ‘Look, there’s a Lion! Oh my God!’”
In a federal civil complaint filed against Jonasi in California on March 16, Morake alleges Jonasi’s translation of the Zulu lyrics was false and damaging to his life’s work since it wasn’t made during a comedy special or stand-up performance, but supposedly presented as if it were fact.
“Defendant did not frame this as a joke in delivery. Defendant presented it as factual knowledge with misguided authenticity to increase exposure and mockery of [Morake’s] creative masterpiece,” the lawsuit claims.
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The $27 million lawsuit refers to Jonasi’s mistranslation as a “sick joke,” citing social media posts from people who claim it “ruined their childhood.”
In the suit, Morake asserts the “Nants’ingonyama bagithi Baba” chant actually means “All hail the king, we all bow in the presence of the king.”
The lawsuit also claims the chant “stands independently as an African vocal proclamation grounded in South African tradition” outside of its inclusion in “Circle of Life.”
In a statement shared on March 13, Jonasi acknowledged he had talked to Morake about the chant and insisted his mistranslation was “just a joke.”
“…Comedy always has a way of starting a conversation. I told him this. This is now your chance to actually educate people because now people are listening. I was even ready to create a video with him, to be honest. Personally, I had no idea it had a deeper meaning,” he added.
He has since launched a GoFundMe campaign to help cover his legal fees for the lawsuit, which he calls “unjust.”
Jonasi was publicly served with the lawsuit while performing a comedy set on stage on Tuesday (March 24).
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