A comedian has been sued for $27 million over a viral joke about The Lion King song ‘Circle of Life’.
Lebohang Morake, the composer of the chant, is suing Learnmore Jonasi, real name Learnmore Mwanyenyeka, for allegedly damaging his reputation.
During a February episode of One54, the Zimbabwean stand-up said the hosts were not singing the lyrics correctly, adding that the phrase ‘Nants’ingonyama bagithi Baba’ was Zulu.
“Don’t mess up our language like that,” he said, claiming that the lyrics meant: “Look, there’s a lion. Oh my god!”
Co-host Akbar said: “You’re joking. That is not what that means! This whole time I thought it was like this like this beautiful, majestic.”
Jonasi joked it was ‘exactly what it means’.
However, Disney’s official translation of opening phrase ‘Nants’ingonyama bagithi Baba’ is: “All hail the king, we all bow in the presence of the king.”
‘Circle of Life’ was written by Elton John and Tim Rice (Disney)
Morake’s lawyers said in the complaint that ‘ingonyama’ can literally translate to ‘lion’, but is used in the song as a ‘royal metaphor’ that invokes kingship, and that Jonasi intentionally misrepresented ‘an African vocal proclamation grounded in South African tradition’.
The complaint also accuses Jonasi of presenting his translation ‘as authoritative fact, not comedy’ so it shouldn’t get the First Amendment protections afforded to comedians.
Taking to Instagram, the comic confirmed in a video that ‘I am officially getting sued for telling a joke’.
After sharing a clip of the podcast, he said: “And that’s why I’m getting sued for $27,000,000. And to make matters worse, I got served the lawsuit while I was performing on stage.”
He actually shared the moment he got served on Instagram. The below video contains strong language:
With his set interrupted, Jonasi asks ‘What is this?’ as he’s handed a yellow piece of paper.
He tells the crowd: “Oh s**t I just got served. Oh s**t. Oh my God.
“This is for… I did a joke about The Lion King. I’m paying for that s**t now. F**k The Lion King.
“Listen, I now have anxiety, a gluten allergy, I’ve got served – I’m now American! Any lawyer?”
Clearly a little taken aback to be slapped with a lawsuit mid-set, Jonasi has since had more time to collect his thoughts, and has even started a GoFundMe for his legal costs (more than $10,000 has already been raised).
“Right now, I’m looking for a lawyer, man,” he said.
Lebohang Morake, the composer of the chant, is suing Learnmore Jonasi, for $27 million (Oupa Bopape/Gallo Images via Getty Images)
“I need a very good lawyer. If you know anybody out here that is willing to help me, please, please reach out to me.
“I can’t believe I’m getting sued for telling a joke. What kind of stupid world do we live in? This world is stupid.”
How a war of words on social media ended up as a $27 million lawsuit
Judging by their respective social media posts, Jonasi and Morake attempted to talk things out privately, which escalated to Instagram videos denouncing each other, and now to legal action.
On 14 March, Jonasi shared a video explaining that Morake approached him and accused him of ‘disrespecting his work’.
Jonasi said he told Morake he was actually ‘a big fan of yours, I actually love the song’.
Jonasi was served on stage (Instagram/@learnmore_jonasi)
Going on to say his comments were just a ‘joke’, he said he offered to collaborate with Morake on a video to ‘educate people’, adding: “Personally, I had no idea [the lyrics] had a deeper meaning.”
He then said ‘everything changed’ when Morake called him a ‘self-hating n***o’, saying: “I’m not going to talk to this person. He called me an idiot.”
Morake responded with his own video the following day. He said: “If I offended anyone by using the word I used describing this young man, I apologise.”
He refused to back down though, explaining: “He’s insulting my work that has been inspirational to people around the world for over 50 years. Then insulting my culture.”
In Morake’s telling, the private conversation between the pair broke down after Jonasi vowed to keep telling the joke.
Jonasi is selling merch to pay for his legal costs (Instagram/@learnmore_jonasi)
He also complained it was unclear on One54 that Jonasi’s comments about the ‘Circle of Life’ were a joke, accusing the comedian of ‘making a mockery of my work’.
He added: “You are riding a huge wave of going viral on negativity.
“It’s unfortunate that this has gone this far, and I hope this being my last comment will make it shut down. I wish you well.”
That’s unlikely to happen now, with Jonasi vowing to fight the lawsuit.
LADbible has contacted Disney and representatives of Jonasi for comment.