Composer of the Circle of Life from lion king is suing a comedian for translating the beginning on that song on a podcast. Seeks 27 million in damages. If you bring a lawsuit this absurd you should have to pay when it's thrown out.

🔥🚨BREAKING: Comedian Learnmore Jonasi was got served with a $27 million lawsuit from Disney right on stage because of his viral Lion King joke.

pic.twitter.com/MboNNgTlQQ

— Dom Lucre | Breaker of Narratives (@dom_lucre) March 27, 2026

It's a comedian's joke with a kernel of truth. The Zulu lyrics "Nants ingonyama bagithi baba / Sithi uhhmm ingonyama" literally translate to "Here comes a lion, father / Oh yes, it's a lion." "Ingonyama" means lion but symbolizes the king in context. He exaggerates it to "Look,…

— Grok (@grok) March 27, 2026

Need a lawyers input stat

Entirely possible the whole thing was staged to try and go viral

He should do Hasa Diga Eebowai next.

I think it's frivolous and ridiculous and good Lord the movie is 32 years old. I don't think it's ruining anything. It will stay a good movie with fun music. I also saw it on Broadway and it was gorgeous done with the giraffe and elephant puppets along with actors and everything.

I think making a big deal out of it is just drawing more attention to it.

I guess it's a good thing the comedian is black though because hooey had he been white.

The entire text of the second tweet: It's a comedian's joke with a kernel of truth. The Zulu lyrics "Nants ingonyama bagithi baba / Sithi uhhmm ingonyama" literally translate to "Here comes a lion, father / Oh yes, it's a lion." "Ingonyama" means lion but symbolizes the king in context. He exaggerates it to "Look, there's a lion! Oh my God!" for laughsDisney calls it "All hail the king." The composer is suing, saying it mocks the cultural chant.

It's interesting how he knew what the lawsuit was about without ever opening the envelope. Lawsuit may or may not be real. Being served on stage was definitely fake.

AustinAg2K said:

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It's interesting how he knew what the lawsuit was about without ever opening the envelope. Lawsuit may or may not be real. Being served on stage was definitely fake.

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I'm sure he received a demand letter first.

annie88 said:

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I think it's frivolous and ridiculous and good Lord the movie is 32 years old. I don't think it's ruining anything. It will stay a good movie with fun music. I also saw it on Broadway and it was gorgeous done with the giraffe and elephant puppets along with actors and everything.

I think making a big deal out of it is just drawing more attention to it.

I guess it's a good thing the comedian is black though because hooey had he been white.

The entire text of the second tweet: It's a comedian's joke with a kernel of truth. The Zulu lyrics "Nants ingonyama bagithi baba / Sithi uhhmm ingonyama" literally translate to "Here comes a lion, father / Oh yes, it's a lion." "Ingonyama" means lion but symbolizes the king in context. He exaggerates it to "Look, there's a lion! Oh my God!" for laughsDisney calls it "All hail the king." The composer is suing, saying it mocks the cultural chant.

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It most likely helps. I'm sure streams only went up after this joke/ kinda spot on translation (according to AI)

Never heard of him, but he does seem funny.

Does this fall into the category of Disney sort of has to sue in order to legitimately protect all other property rights?

So if Disney does or does not care about this specifically, they have a duty to protect their IP.

I vaguely recall our AD going after a crippled guy in Buffalo (I may have those details all mixed, but not the point) over 12th man infringement.

The rationale was you had to always be protecting or you lose the right to protect.

Disney isn't suing him.

Bunk Moreland said:

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Disney isn't suing him.

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You are welcome to clarify but don't act like my eyes were crossed.

Shocked Dom, the Breaker of Narratives wasn't accurate.

The irony of a comedian from Africa is being sued for making a joke about a movie set in Africa.

Are the casting directors going to sue him next because he joked about the American accents and the only one with another accent was a monkey (a baboon, IIRC), who had a Caribbean accent?

If you think about it, this is a case that Disney wouldn't want to happen. If the composer wins, it would open a can of worms that would end comedy in any form of entertainment.

Disney would be a huge target for a lot of humor in their movies and shows.

Well, that's probably good but it's still silly.

Satire is free speech, of course. But man, the publicity for Learnmore Jenasi, the commedian, is priceless.

Now, we need to figure how to generate some NIL money out of this.

Let's see..."The Eyes of Texas...SOUNDS LIKE HELL! So, sue me!

Didn't someone already come out with that translation at least 20 years ago?

Im Gipper said:

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itsyourboypookie said:

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. If you bring a lawsuit this absurd you should have to pay when it's thrown out

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Lyricist from the Lion King sued a comedian over a joke -- that the opening chant translates to "Look, there's a lion. Oh my god" -- and now owes the comedian ~$40,000 in attorneys' fees. pic.twitter.com/rD721gqLjQ

— Adam Steinbaugh (@adamsteinbaugh) August 29, 2026

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Karma

Quote:

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Karma

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It means the opposite of "no worries"

"It's the circle of law…"