(L) Lebo M at the official South African Premiere of Disney's The Lion King at the Johannesburg Country Club on July 18, 2019 in Johannesburg, South Africa. (R ) Learnmore Jonasi performing at The Ice House Comedy Club on January 14, 2026 in Pasadena …
A viral dispute involving the iconic "Lion King" chant has reached the courtroom.
Lebohang Morake, the Grammy-award winning South African composer of the iconic chant that opens the "Circle of Life" is suing comedian Learnmore Mwanyenyeka, known as Learnmore Jonasi, over comments he’s made about the lyrics’ translation.
Here is what to know about the lyrics and the lawsuit:
‘Lion King’ translation joke
The backstory:
The lawsuit stemmed from comments Jonasi has made in his stand-up routines and in a recent podcast interview, where he translated the lyrics in "The Lion King’s" opening chant from Zulu and Xhosa, two of South Africa’s 12 national languages.
Jonasi sang the chant lyrics in Zulu on an episode of One54, a podcast that spotlights African stories and entertainers. When asked, he says they translate to: "Look, there’s a lion. Oh my god." The hosts burst out laughing, saying that they had previously thought the chant was something more "beautiful and majestic."
‘Lion King’ lyric lawsuit
Big picture view:
Disney’s official translation of "Nants’ingonyama bagithi Baba" is "All hail the king, we all bow in the presence of the king."
The lawsuit accuses Jonasi of intentionally mistranslating the chant and devaluing the composer’s contribution to the song by mocking "the chant’s cultural significance with exaggerated imitations."
Lawyers for Morake, who performs as Lebo M, acknowledged in the lawsuit that "ingonyama" can literally translate to "lion," but say it's 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."
By the numbers:
The lawsuit says Jonasi’s comments are interfering with Morake’s business relationships with Disney and his income from royalties, causing more than $20 million in actual damages. The lawsuit also seeks $7 million in punitive damages.
FOX Television Stations has reached out to Disney for comment.
FILE - Lebo M during the official South African Premiere of Disney's The Lion King at the Johannesburg Country Club on July 18, 2019 in Johannesburg, South Africa. (Photo by Oupa Bopape/Gallo Images via Getty Images)
Dig deeper:
The complaint also argues that Jonasi presented his translation "as authoritative fact, not comedy" so it shouldn't get the First Amendment protections afforded to parody and satire that make fun of other artistic works.
What they're saying:
"Yep, I am officially getting sued for telling that Lion King joke. This is crazy," Jonasi shared Tuesday in a reel on Instagram. "Any good lawyers out here please," he quipped.
His post included video from one of his stand-ups when he was served the papers on stage in front of his audience.
"I just got served! Oh (expletive)!" he can be seen reacting on the video.
"For those wondering what this is for, I did a joke about "The Lion King"; I don’t know if you saw it. I’m paying for that (expletive) now!" he told the audience.
"I’m now raising money, a GoFundMe page," he joked.
His post has been seen by more than 3 million people, with thousands commenting in support of the comedian.
Who is Learnmore Jonasi?
FILE - Comedian Learnmore Jonasi performs at The Ice House Comedy Club on January 14, 2026 in Pasadena, California. (Photo by Michael S. Schwartz/Getty Images for ABA)
Big picture view:
Jonasi is a Zimbabwean comedian who has been seen on "America’s Got Talent" receiving a golden buzzer, and has received several comedy awards.
He is currently in the throes of a U.S. tour.
He has been critical of "The Lion King" in parts of his comedy routine, questioning why the lions "have American accents," for example, and critiquing other renderings of Africa in popular American culture.
What they're saying:
Jonasi said he's a "big fan" of Morake’s work and loves the song. When he learned that Morake was upset, the comedian said he wanted to create a video with Morake explaining the song's deeper meaning.
"Comedy always has a way of starting conversation," Jonasi said in another video he posted on Instagram, which got more than 100,000 likes. "This is your chance to actually educate people, because now people are listening."
The Source: Information in this article was taken from a One54 Africa podcast episode, Learnmore Jonasi’s Instagram account and a court filing in Los Angeles federal court, as obtained by The Associated Press. This story was reported from Detroit.