A South African comedian is being sued for $27 million over a viral joke that mistranslated the iconic “Circle of Life” chant in Disney’s “The Lion King.”
Lebohang Morake — the Grammy-winning South African composer behind the film’s opening Zulu vocals — filed a federal civil complaint in California on March 16 against the comedian, Learnmore Jonasi, alleging that the translation is false and damaging to his life’s work.
Jonasi, whose legal name is Learnmore Mwanyenyeka, could not immediately be reached for comment on Friday. No attorney information was listed for him.
In a GoFundMe campaign he launched to cover legal fees, Jonasi called the lawsuit “unjust.” By Friday afternoon, the campaign had raised more than $16,000.
Disney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Last month, Jonasi appeared on the One54 Africa podcast, where the host sang the chant and asked him what it meant. “You said nothing,” Jonasi replied — then sang the chant himself and offered his own translation: “It means, ‘Look, there’s a lion. Oh, my god.’”
Morake, known professionally as Lebo M, contends in his lawsuit that the chant — “Nants’ingonyama bagithi Baba” — actually means “All hail the king, we all bow in the presence of the king.” He filed the suit in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, where he maintains a residence.
The lawsuit describes the chant as “royal praise poetry” written in isiZulu and isiXhosa. Although it is featured in the “Circle of Life,” the lawsuit says it “stands independently as an African vocal proclamation grounded in South African tradition.”
The lawsuit acknowledges that “ngonyama” can translate to “lion” in Zulu, but contends in the tradition of Praise Imbongi and royal metaphor, “Ngonyama or Ingonyama” signifies kingship.
The suit calls Jonasi’s mistranslation “a sick joke” that is destructive to Morake’s artistic work. It also says that the podcast appearance wasn’t framed as a stand-up set or comedy special.
“Defendant did not frame this as a joke in delivery,” the lawsuit says. “Defendant presented it as factual knowledge with misguided authenticity to increase exposure and mockery of Lebo M’s creative masterpiece.”
The lawsuit goes on to cite social media comments where people said they believed Jonasi’s translation, “with some describing it as having ‘ruined their childhood.'”
One54 Africa and its hosts declined to comment on the lawsuit.
According to the suit, Morake messaged Jonasi on Instagram and told him that his comment about the chant “crossed a line” and was an insult to African culture. It says the comedian responded and said that it was “unfortunate that you see it this way,” and that he has been performing the joke for eight years.
Jonasi acknowledged in a March 13 video statement that he had a conversation with Morake about the chant.
“This was just a joke, and 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,” he said. “Personally, I had no idea it had a deeper meaning.”
The suit notes that Jonasi recently performed the joke in Los Angeles to a standing ovation. In an Instagram video the comedian posted on Tuesday, he was served with Morake’s lawsuit while performing on stage.
