{"id":10018,"date":"2026-03-18T05:02:04","date_gmt":"2026-03-18T05:02:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usatrustedlawyers.com\/blog\/comedian-sued-over-circle-of-life-comment\/"},"modified":"2026-03-18T05:02:04","modified_gmt":"2026-03-18T05:02:04","slug":"comedian-sued-over-circle-of-life-comment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usatrustedlawyers.com\/blog\/comedian-sued-over-circle-of-life-comment\/","title":{"rendered":"Comedian Sued Over \u2018Circle of Life\u2019 Comment"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n\tThe composer and performer of the iconic opening Zulu chant in \u201cThe Circle of Life\u201d from The Lion King <\/em>is suing a comedian over a viral podcast comment about the song.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe lawsuit, filed on Monday (March 16) by South African composer and singer Lebo M, stems from Zimbabwean comedian Learnmore Jonasi\u2019s appearance last month on the podcast One54 Africa<\/em>. In a now-viral clip, Jonasi said the famous \u201cThe Circle of Life\u201d chant, \u201cNants\u2019ingonyama bagithi Baba,\u201d translates in English to \u201cLook, there\u2019s a lion. Oh my god.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\n\tLebo M (full name Lebohang Morake) wrote this chant and performed it in both the 1994 original The Lion King <\/em>movie and its 2019 remake. Lebo M alleges in the Monday lawsuit that the chant is a form of royal praise poetry that relies on metaphors, and its true translation is, \u201cAll hail the king, we all bow in the presence of the king.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cJonasi\u2019s reduction to \u2018Look, there\u2019s a lion. Oh my god\u2019 is not a simplified translation \u2014 it is a fabricated, trivializing distortion, meant as a sick joke for unlawful self-profit and destruction of the imaginative and artistic work of Lebo M,\u201d reads the legal complaint.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe lawsuit demands a whopping $27 million in damages from Jonasi for defamation, libel and business interference that could affect Lebo M\u2019s longtime collaborative relationship with Disney. Lebo M says he \u201cnow fears for his life due to Xenophobic comments,\u201d and he claims he\u2019s been \u201cconfronted and bombarded\u201d with comments about the podcast clip while on tour with Hans Zimmer in Europe.<\/p>\n

\n\tLebo M\u2019s claims face tough odds, as the First Amendment broadly shields comedy from legal scrutiny and liability for defamation. Lebo M\u2019s lawyer attempts to get around free speech protections by arguing that Jonasi \u201cdid not frame this as a joke in delivery.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\n\t\u201cDefendant presented it as factual knowledge with misguided authenticity to increase exposure and mockery of Lebo M\u2019s creative masterpiece,\u201d writes attorney Michael Younge<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe lawsuit marks an escalation in a back-and-forth that\u2019s been taking place on social media between Lebo M and Jonasi since the podcast clip went viral. Lebo M stated in a March 4 video<\/a> on Instagram that he\u2019d messaged Jonasi about his concerns, but the comedian brushed him off and said he\u2019d been doing the same joke for eight years and did not plan to stop.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIt\u2019s rather painful to see an ignorant wannabe comedian promote ignorance and it become so globally powerful,\u201d said Lebo M in the video. \u201cI did try to engage this young man, and he was so arrogant.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tJonasi responded with an Instagram video of his own<\/a> on March 14, saying he was initially receptive to Lebo M\u2019s messages and had hoped they could create a collaborative video clarifying the situation \u2014\u00a0but that he shut down the conversation after the composer called him \u201cself-hating.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI realized that I\u2019m not having a conversation with somebody that actually wants to do that,\u201d said Jonasi in his video. \u201cThis person is literally not attacking the joke, but my character.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tA rep for Jonasi did not immediately return a request for comment on Tuesday (March 17).<\/p>\n


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