A comedian has spoken out after the Lion King composer filed a $27 million lawsuit over a tongue-in-cheek “translation” of the film’s famous opening chant.
The opening moments of the movie are instantly recognisable: the sun rises across an African landscape as the chant “Nants’ingonyama bagithi Baba” rings out.
The music for Circle of Life was written by composer Lebohang Morake, a key piece of both the Disney film and its stage adaptation.
Now, Morake has launched legal action against Zimbabwean comedian Learnmore Mwanyenyeka — known professionally as Learnmore Jonasi — accusing him of deliberately ridiculing “the chant’s cultural significance with exaggerated imitations”.
The dispute stems from an appearance on the One54 podcast, where the Nigerian hosts sang the lyrics incorrectly.
Jonasi stepped in to correct them, saying: “That’s not how you sing it, don’t mess up our language like that,” before performing the lyrics as he said they should be sung.
When asked what the words meant, he gave a joking answer: “Look, there’s a lion. Oh my god.”
Disney’s official translation of the opening line is: “All hail the king, we all bow in the presence of the king.”
Addressing the lawsuit in a video posted to social media, Jonasi said: “I’m officially getting sued for telling a joke.”
He then replayed the podcast clip and added: “And that’s why I’m getting sued for $27 million.”
Jonasi also alleged he was served with legal papers mid-performance at the Laugh Factory.
In footage included in his post, a person approaches him on stage, hands over an envelope, and tells him he has been served — leaving him visibly shocked.
Holding up the envelope, he told the crowd: “For those that are wondering what this is for, I did a joke about The Lion King. I don’t know if you saw it, that was me yeah, I’m paying for that s**t now.”
Still laughing in disbelief, he continued: “I just got served in front of you guys. I’m now raising money, a GoFundMe page.”
He then carried on with his act, joking about why the lions in the film speak with American accents despite the story being set in Africa, while the only distinctive accent is given to a monkey.
Returning to the update video, Jonasi said: “Right now I am looking for a lawyer, I need a very good lawyer. If you know anybody out here who is willing to help me, please, please reach out to me.”
He added: “I can’t believe I’m getting sued for telling a joke, what kind of stupid world do we live in?”
Jonasi has previously said he loves the song and describes himself as a fan of Morake and his work.
He also said that once he realised the joke had upset Morake, he offered to make a joint video discussing the song’s meaning and context. In an Instagram video, he said: “Comedy always has a way of starting conversation. This is your chance to actually educate people, because now people are listening.”
However, Jonasi later said he withdrew that proposal after Morake allegedly called him “self-hating” in a message exchange following the podcast. He also claimed Morake’s response fails to consider how his comedy is shaped by American and Western portrayals of Africa.
Morake is seeking $20 million in actual damages and $7 million in punitive damages, arguing the joke has harmed his business relationship with Disney and reduced his royalty earnings tied to the song.