Lebo M sues comedian Learnmore Jonasi claiming Circle of Life misrepresentation | Culture
The Grammy-winning South African composer, who wrote and performed the opening song Circle of Life for Disney’s The Lion King, is suing a comedian for allegedly damaging his reputation by deliberately misrepresenting the song’s meaning in a podcast and stand-up routine.
Lebohang Morake’s lawsuit accuses Zimbabwean comedian Learnmore Mwanyenyeka, known as Learnmore Jonasi, of deliberately mistranslating the chant that prefaced the 1994 film and is central to Disney’s 2019 remake as well as staged versions.
The dispute, which went viral when the two men challenged each other on social media, stems from comments Jonasi made in stand-up routines and in a podcast interview while translating the song’s lyrics from Zulu and Xhosa, two of South Africa’s 12 national languages.
The lawsuit was filed this month in federal court in Los Angeles, where Morake, who plays Lebo M, lives and Jonasi performs. The court accuses Jonasi of deliberately mocking “the cultural significance of the hymn through exaggerated parodies.”
Disney’s official translation of the opening line “Nants’ingonyama bagithi Baba” is: “All hail the king, we will all bow before the king.”
“Aw! father, sizongqoba” continues the chant. According to Morake, this means “through you we will emerge victorious.”
The lawsuit cites an episode of the podcast One54, in which Nigerian hosts chant incoherently and with incorrect words. Jonasi corrects them: “That’s not how you say it, don’t spoil our language like that.”
He then says the correct words in Zulu. When asked, he says it means: “Look, there’s a lion. Oh my God.” The presenters burst out laughing, saying they thought the hymn was something more “beautiful and majestic.”
Circle of Life, with music by Elton John and English lyrics by Tim Rice, emerged within the broader context of Jonasi’s critique of the Lion King series, drawing on simplistic narratives about the African continent for non-African audiences.
“In Africa, the lions had the American accent, and then the monkey had the accent,” Jonasi said.
Morake’s lawyers acknowledged in the complaint that “ingonyama” could literally mean “lion,” but said it was used as a royal metaphor in the song, adding that Jonasi deliberately misrepresented “an African vocal statement based on a South African tradition.”
The lawsuit states that Jonasi “received a standing ovation” for a similar joke he made about the song during a performance in Los Angeles on March 12. Such viral statements reportedly interfered with Morake’s business dealings with Disney and his income from royalties, causing actual losses of more than US$20 million. The lawsuit also seeks punitive damages of $7 million.
Disney did not respond to an emailed request for comment from The Associated Press Monday night. The Guardian has also been contacted for comment.
The complaint argues that Jonasi presented his translation “as a valid fact and not as a comedy,” so it should not receive first amendment protections afforded to parody and satire that mock other artistic works.
Jonasi does not have a publicly identified attorney for the case and a representative did not respond to an emailed request for comment Monday night, but the comedian offered some thoughts in a video released last week as he continues his U.S. tour.
He said he was a “big fan” of Morake’s work and loved the song. He said that when he learned that Morake was upset, he wanted to create a video with the composer explaining the deep meaning of the hymn.
“Comedy always has a way of starting a conversation,” Jonasi said in a video he posted on Instagram that has received more than 100,000 likes. “This is your chance to really educate people because now people are listening.”
However, Jonasi said he changed his mind about collaborating with Morake when, while exchanging messages with him, he told him that the composer described him as “self-hating”. He said Morake’s response ignored the rest of his work, which turned to a more nuanced critique of how the United States interprets African identity.
