Grammy-winning composer Lebohang "Lebo M" Morake is taking a viral joke to federal court in Los Angeles, accusing Zimbabwean comedian Learnmore Jonasi of twisting the iconic opening Zulu chant from The Lion King’s "Circle of Life" into a misleading punchline. In a new lawsuit, Morake says Jonasi’s riff has hurt his relationships with Disney and other partners and is seeking more than $20 million in actual damages plus $7 million in punitive damages. At the center of the case are a podcast clip and a Los Angeles stand-up set that Morake argues turned a cultural proclamation into a running gag, stripped of its context.
According to The Associated Press, the complaint was filed this month in federal court in Los Angeles and says Jonasi "received a standing ovation" for a similar bit during a March 12 stand-up set in the city. The suit alleges Jonasi mocked "the chant's cultural significance with exaggerated imitations" and presented his version "as authoritative fact, not comedy," which Morake’s team argues takes it outside typical First Amendment protection for parody. The filing seeks to recoup business losses tied to royalties and licensing.
How the clip spread
The controversy started with an episode of the One54 Africa podcast, where Jonasi corrected the hosts’ garbled attempt at the words, then offered a literal English version, "Look, there's a lion. Oh my God." That moment quickly blew up on TikTok and other platforms, as reported by NDTV. Through March, snippets of the segment circulated widely, turning the joke translation into a global talking point and kicking off arguments over what got lost in translation. Reaction videos and reposts helped push the clip from social feeds into mainstream coverage.
What Lebo M says
Morake and his team maintain that the chant is not a throwaway movie lyric but a form of southern African praise-poetry with specific ceremonial weight. In a statement to The Standard, he said, "It is praise, not parody. It is heritage, not a hashtag," warning that reducing the chant to a quick joke chips away at cultural understanding. The complaint also cites soundtrack documentation and liner notes to argue that the chant functions as a royal metaphor, not a panicked play-by-play of spotting wildlife.
Legal questions the case raises
The lawsuit contends that because Jonasi framed his version "as authoritative fact, not comedy," his comments should not receive the same First Amendment protections that usually shield parody, according to The Associated Press. Morake alleges that the statements interfered with his business dealings with Disney and other partners and is asking for more than $20 million in actual damages and $7 million in punitive damages. Legal experts quoted in coverage say the outcome will likely hinge on whether a reasonable audience would take Jonasi’s words as factual claims or understand them as opinion and comedy.
Jonasi's response
Jonasi has responded online, saying he is a fan of Morake’s work and that he initially wanted to collaborate on a joint video to "educate people," according to reporting by Fox5 San Diego. That Instagram post, along with other reposts, drew six-figure engagement and helped propel the spat from niche podcast moment to headline fodder. Jonasi has also told followers that he backed away from the idea of a joint video after a private exchange with Morake turned tense.
Why it matters
Beyond the eye-popping dollar amounts, the dispute highlights how a throwaway-seeming viral bit can collide with deeper questions about cultural guardianship, authorship, and who gets to interpret someone else’s heritage for a global audience. As Newsweek and others have noted, the flare-up has revived longstanding debates over The Lion King’s use of African languages and the assumptions audiences make when they do not understand the lyrics. The lawsuit now poses a test of whether a comedian’s viral riff can be treated as harmful commercial conduct or remains firmly in the realm of protected expression, with potential ripple effects for performers and creators who mine pop culture for laughs.
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