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Lion King Chant Composer Files $27M Lawsuit Against Comedian Over Song's Alleged Misinterpretation
03/18/26The composer behind the famous chant at the beginning of Disney's The Lion King is suing a comedian for allegedly misrepresenting the meaning of the iconic lyrics.
Grammy Award-winning composer Lebohang Morake, known professionally as Lebo M, filed a lawsuit on March 16 in California against comedian Learnmore Jonasi (nee Learnmore Mwanyenyeka). Jonasi went viral in a clip from the One54 Africa podcast for allegedly making "false statements of fact about the meaning of the 'Nants’ingonyama' composition," according to the complaint obtained by PEOPLE.
The chant, "Nants’ingonyama bagithi Baba," is used in both the original 1994 movie and the 2019 adaptation. Hans Zimmer composed the film's score, with songs by Elton John and Tim Rice.
In a podcast clip, Jonasi claims that the chant, “Nants’ingonyama bagithi Baba” translates to “Look, there’s a lion. Oh my god.”
The complaint alleges that Jonasi "presented this as authoritative fact, not comedy," and that in doing so he "mocked the chant’s cultural significance with exaggerated imitations."
"Jonasi’s reduction to 'Look, there’s a lion. Oh my god' is not a simplified translation—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," the complaint says. "The true meaning of Nants’ ingonyama bagithi Baba is 'All hail the king, we all bow in the presence of the king.'"
After the podcast clip went viral, Morake messaged Jonasi on Instagram, per the suit. In one of the messages in the exchange, Morake allegedly told Jonasi that his "Stated comments were not part of standup and sought to 'erase over 30 years of work,'" to which Jonasi disagreed.
Morake is seeking a jury trial and $27, 000, 000 in damages.
