{"id":229320,"date":"2026-03-18T23:00:12","date_gmt":"2026-03-18T23:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/18\/composer-behind-the-lion-king-chant-sues-comedian-for-misrepresenting-its-lyrics\/"},"modified":"2026-03-18T23:00:12","modified_gmt":"2026-03-18T23:00:12","slug":"composer-behind-the-lion-king-chant-sues-comedian-for-misrepresenting-its-lyrics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/18\/composer-behind-the-lion-king-chant-sues-comedian-for-misrepresenting-its-lyrics\/","title":{"rendered":"Composer behind The Lion King chant sues comedian for 'misrepresenting' its lyrics"},"content":{"rendered":"


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The composer behind the chant at the start of The Lion King has filed a lawsuit against a comedian for allegedly misrepresenting its lyrics.<\/p>\n

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The composer behind the chant at the start of The Lion King has filed a lawsuit against a comedian for allegedly misrepresenting its lyrics<\/p>\n

Lebohang Morake, 61, known professionally as Lebo M, is suing stand-up Learnmore Jonasi, 32 \u2013 whose full name is Learnmore Mwanyenyeka \u2013 of making \u201cfalse statements of fact\u201d about the chant \u201cNants\u2019ingonyama bagithi Baba\u201d during an appearance on the One54 Africa podcast. <\/p>\n

The chant features in both the 1994 animated film and its 2019 adaptation, with the score composed by Hans Zimmer, and songs written by Elton John and Tim Rice<\/a>. <\/p>\n

According to court documents obtained by People, Lebo alleges the remarks constitute violations including defamation per se, trade libel and breaches of the Lanham Act, as well as tortious interference with prospective economic advantage.<\/p>\n

In the podcast clip, Learnmore said: \u201c\u2018Nants\u2019ingonyama bagithi Baba\u2019 translates to, \u2018Look, there\u2019s a lion. Oh my god\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

\nThe complaint states Learnmore \u201cpresented this as authoritative fact, not comedy\u201d, and alleges he \u201cmocked the chant\u2019s cultural significance with exaggerated imitations\u201d.<\/p>\n

\nThe filing further states: \u201cJonasi\u2019s reduction to \u2018Look, there\u2019s a lion. Oh my god\u2019 is not a simplified translation \u2013\u00a0it is a fabricated, trivialising distortion, meant as a sick joke for unlawful self-profit and destruction of the imaginative and artistic work of Lebo M.\u201d<\/p>\n

\nThe complaint adds: \u201cThe true meaning of Nants\u2019 ingonyama bagithi Baba is, \u2018All hail the king, we all bow in the presence of the king\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

\nFollowing the circulation of the clip online, Lebo is said to have contacted Learnmore via Instagram, raising concerns about the comments. <\/p>\n

\nThe complaint alleges Lebo told Learnmore his \u201cstated comments were not part of standup\u201d and sought to \u201cerase over 30 years of work\u201d, while Learnmore is said to have disagreed with that assessment.<\/p>\n

\nLebo is seeking a jury trial and $27 million in damages.<\/p>\n

\nThe Lion King remains one of Disney\u2019s most successful animated films, with the film\u2019s soundtrack achieving huge commercial success. <\/p>\n

\nIts 2019 remake also surpassed $1.6 billion globally, reinforcing the franchise\u2019s enduring appeal. <\/p>\n

\nThe story, characters and music have continued to resonate with audiences, supporting spin-offs, stage adaptations and continued global popularity across multiple generations worldwide.<\/p>\n

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Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

18 March 2026 The composer behind the chant at the start of The Lion King has filed a lawsuit against a comedian for allegedly misrepresenting its lyrics. The composer behind the chant at the start of The Lion King has filed a lawsuit against a comedian for allegedly misrepresenting its lyrics Lebohang Morake, 61, known […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":229321,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[218,2214,14267,14270,14268,14266,14269,14265,14271,14272,10907],"class_list":{"0":"post-229320","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-make-up","8":"tag-elton-john","9":"tag-hans-zimmer","10":"tag-learnmore-jonasi","11":"tag-learnmore-jonasi-comedian","12":"tag-learnmore-mwanyenyeka","13":"tag-lebo-m","14":"tag-lebo-m-composer","15":"tag-lebohang-morake","16":"tag-lion-king-chant-meaning","17":"tag-nantsingonyama-meaning","18":"tag-tim-rice"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/229320","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=229320"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/229320\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/229321"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=229320"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=229320"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=229320"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}