Photo: Walt Disney Co./Everett Collection
Grammy-winning composer Lebohang Morake, known professionally as Lebo M, is suing a comedian who he claims was lyin’ about Lion King lyrics. The pair brought this matter to the court of public opinion earlier this month by posting Instagram videos to share their sides of the story. Will this battle now end up in an actual court? Here’s what to know about the $27 million lawsuit that comedian Learnmore Jonasi is crowdfunding to fight.
While appearing on the February 25 episode of the One54 Africa podcast, comedian Learnmore Jonasi (born Learnmore Mwanyenyeka) said that the chant in “Circle of Life” translates to “Look, there’s a lion. Oh my God.” When asked if he was joking, he doubled down: “That’s exactly what it means.” In a federal lawsuit filed in California on March 16 and reviewed by USA Today, Morake states that the chant — “Nants’ingonyama bagithi Baba” — is a line written in isiZulu and isiXhosa that actually translates to “All hail the king, we all bow in the presence of the king.” The lawsuit notes that ingonyama can translate to “lion” in Zulu but that this specific lyric is written in a form of royal-praise poetry that gives it a different significance.
Although Jonasi is not the first person to suggest that Morake’s lyric offers a very literal description of what’s happening in the opening scene of Disney’s 1994 animated classic, clips of his translation — which One54 Africa shared alongside the caption “POV: childhood ruined” — have gone viral over the past month and given the claim new life online. Morake alleged in his complaint that Jonasi has been performing this joke for the past eight years, continued to do so at comedy clubs after the clip went viral, and tried to monetize the bit with merch. Morake’s attorneys are arguing that all of that points to “actual malice” on Jonasi’s part. The lawsuit calls his translation “a fabricated, trivializing distortion, meant as a sick joke for unlawful self-profit and destruction of the imaginative and artistic work of Lebo M.” Morake is seeking $20 million in alleged damages and around $7 million in estimated disgorgement of profits.
Jonasi slammed the complaint as “unjust” in a GoFundMe campaign calling on supporters to donate so he can afford legal representation. “I am a passionate creator who never intended harm, but I now face overwhelming legal fees just to defend my right to speak and tell jokes,” he said in the crowdfunding campaign’s description. He is also selling “Look It’s a Lawsuit” merch depicting the moment he got served with lawsuit papers while recently performing onstage at the Laugh Factory in Los Angeles. (“Get your T-shirt now, You can really help me pay these legal fees 😅,” he wrote on Facebook.) In footage he shared on Instagram, Jonasi explains to the audience that he is being sued over a “joke” and adds, “Fuck The Lion King.” He ultimately finds some humor in the situation, quipping, “Listen, I now have a gluten allergy, anxiety, I got served … I’m now American!”
As of publication, Jonasi’s GoFundMe campaign has reached more than $16,000 of its $20,000 goal. “I am truly grateful for all your support and kindness,” he wrote in a March 26 thank-you message on the crowdfunding page. “Because of you, I now have a fighting chance with this lawsuit.”
The pair already had a tense back-and-forth online earlier this month that clearly didn’t lead to any resolution. In a March 13 video, Jonasi claimed that Morake had reached out to say that he was disrespecting his work. According to Jonasi, he told Morake that he is a fan of his and that this was “just a joke.” The comedian recalled being ready to create a video with Morake about the lyric, admitting, “Personally, I had no idea that it had a deeper meaning.” However, he said his attitude changed after Morake allegedly called him a “self-hating Negro,” an “idiot,” and a “wannabe comedian.” After that, Jonasi said he felt there was no room for constructive conversation and affirmed that he has no interest in apologizing to someone he doesn’t believe he ever insulted.
Morake responded in a March 14 video which he began by apologizing “if anyone was offended” by the language he used to describe Jonasi. However, he maintained that the comedian had disrespected his work and his culture, claiming that Jonasi is continuing to chase virality “at my expense.” Morake added that hundreds of thousands of people did not take Jonasi’s translation as a joke, noting that the comment was made on a podcast while he did not appear to be doing stand-up. “[If] it was not meant to land that way, then that’s what you should have clarified instead of continuing to insult me and [encouraging] people to divide,” Morake said. “Comedy is to unite.”
Source: Read Full Article
