Lebohang Morake, also known as Lebo M, is suing a comedian for allegedly “damaging his reputation” by misrepresenting the meaning of Circle of Life, a song he composed for The Lion King.
The Guardian reports that Lebo M has alleged that Learnmore Mwanyenyeka, who’s known by his stage name of Learnmore Jonasi, “intentionally” misrepresented the meaning of Circle of Life in his podcast and stand-up routine.
Featuring music by Elton John and English-language lyrics by Tim Rice, the song isn’t just incredibly popular, but it also launches the original 1994 film and features in the 2019 remake released by Disney.
According to Disney, the official translation of that iconic opening line – “Nants’ingonyama bagithi Baba” – is “All hail the king, we all bow in the presence of the king.” However, Jonasi had his own translation in mind.
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Lebo M sued Jonasi this month, following his comments on the One54 podcast, where he claimed that Circle of Life’s opening lines, written in Zulu, translate to “Look, there’s a lion. Oh my God.”
Jonasi’s translation elicited laughter from his co-hosts as the episode delved into how African culture is represented in Hollywood productions.
The complaint also alleged that Jonasi, making a similar joke during a performance in Los Angeles earlier this month, received “a standing ovation.”
While Lebo M’s lawyers acknowledged that “ingonyama” can translate to “lion,” they say that because the line was sung with a royal metaphor, Jonasi allegedly intentionally represented “an African vocal proclamation grounded in South African tradition.”
The composer’s lawyers claim that, due to the viral nature of Jonasi’s comments, Lebo M’s business relationship with Disney has been affected, as has his royalty income, resulting in US$20 million in actual damages. Lebo M’s team seek $7 million in punitive damages.
In Lebo M’s complaint, it’s argued that Jonasi shouldn’t be backed by First Amendment rights that typically protect statements of parody and satire, as the comedian seemingly presented his translation of the song “as authoritative fact, not comedy.”
At the time of publication, Jonasi doesn’t have a lawyer attached to his defence. But he did share a video on social media in which he discussed the ongoing conflict with the Lion King composer.
What did The Music make of the 2019 live-action version of The Lion King? Check out the review here.
