Lebohang Morake, the Grammy-winning lyricist responsible for the Zulu vocals in Disney's "The Lion King," has been ordered to pay nearly $40,000 in legal fees after a lawsuit he filed against comedian Learnmore Mwanyenyeka was dismissed. Morake had sued Mwanyenyeka, known by his stage name Jonasi, for $27 million over a humorous mistranslation of the song's iconic opening line.
The Joke and the Lawsuit
The dispute began in February 2026 when Jonasi, during an appearance on the One54 Africa podcast, playfully translated the Zulu phrase "Nants’ingonyama bagithi Baba" as "Look, there is a lion! Oh my god." Morake, however, viewed this as a "fabricated, trivializing distortion meant as a sick joke" that damaged the "royal praise poetry" he had written. Morake's lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California on March 16, 2026, asserted that the line should be understood within the context of South African Praise Imbongi tradition, translating to “All hail the king, we all bow in the presence of the king,” and that while "ngonyama" can mean lion, it signifies "kingship" in this context.
Jonasi stated in a now-deleted Instagram post that he and Morake had discussed the matter privately and that he initially had no idea the lyrics held deeper meaning. He explained that he saw comedy as a way to spark conversation and was even willing to create a video with Morake to educate the public.
Legal Outcome and Free Speech Concerns
The lawsuit was officially dismissed on July 10, 2026. On August 28, 2026, a court order mandated that Morake pay Jonasi $39,560 to cover attorneys’ fees. The ruling cited an Anti-SLAPP motion, indicating the court found Morake's suit to be frivolous and intended to penalize Jonasi for his comedic expression.
Bryan Sullivan, Jonasi's lawyer, celebrated the outcome as a victory for free speech, telling Rolling Stone, "We have always believed this was a frivolous lawsuit in violation of our client’s First Amendment rights."