The composer of the Zulu chant from The Lion King’s “Circle of Life” has dropped his lawsuit against a comedian who joked about the song on a podcast — but the comic is now demanding that he repay his legal bills for filing a “frivolous” case.
Less than four months after South African musician Lebo M (Lebohang Morake) sued comic Learnmore Jonasi (Learnmore Mwanyenyeky) over his viral bit about the iconic Disney song, a federal judge dismissed the case Friday (July 10) because the accuser had voluntarily agreed to drop it.
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Morake’s move to end the case came after attorneys for Jonasi argued the lawsuit was a “sham” and a clear violation of the First Amendment, aimed at punishing a comedian who did nothing more than engage in free speech. If granted, their motion would have not only ended the lawsuit, but also allowed Jonasi to demand Morake repay his hefty legal bills.
In dismissing the case on Friday, the judge explicitly noted that Jonasi could still seek such penalties, which are designed to deter bad lawsuits that restrict free speech. And in a statement to Billboard on Monday (July 13), his attorney Bryan Sullivan said they would do so.
“From the outset, we maintained that the lawsuit was frivolous and constituted an attempt to infringe upon our client’s First Amendment rights,” Sullivan said. “As a result of this baseless litigation, the plaintiff walks away with nothing.”
In his own lengthy statement on Instagram, Morake sharply criticized “sensationalist headlines” over the dismissal of his case, stressing that the two sides had “mutually agreed to settle the matter” and that he had not suffered a loss in court.
“Throughout this process, Lebo M consistently demonstrated a willingness to pursue dialogue over division,” adding that he had wanted to avoid “prolonged litigation” with Jonasi. “The settlement reflects that philosophy.”
The unusual lawsuit, filed in March, centered on “Nants’ingonyama bagithi Baba,” the chant heard at the start of “Circle of Life,” the first track on the chart-topping 1994 soundtrack to The Lion King. Morake wrote and performed that element of the song, which translates into English as “All hail the king, we all bow in the presence of the king.”
At issue in the dispute was Jonasi’s February appearance on the popular podcast One54 Africa, in which the comedian joked that the chant translates as “Look, there’s a lion. Oh my god.” The clip eventually went viral, earning 116K likes on the podcast’s Instagram and pulling in 337K views of the full episode on YouTube.
Seeking $27 million in damages for defamation and other alleged wrongdoing, Morake called the comedian’s statement 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 case faced long odds from the start. The First Amendment broadly shields comedy and other forms of creative expression from legal liability for defamation. After Jonasi’s attorneys move to dismiss that case on those grounds in May, Morake filed an updated version of the case with entirely new accusations of federal trademark violations, but such allegations also are difficult to win in U.S. courts.
Weeks after the updated case was filed, Jonasi’s attorneys move again to toss it out — arguing that the case “targets core First Amendment protections” by trying to “punish” a comedian simply because he had been offended by a joke: “Because the First Amendment is so important in our society, the court should … not allow plaintiff to twist trademark law to suppress free speech.”
Rather than respond to that argument, Morake’s attorneys filed a joint motion last week along with Jonasi’s lawyers, saying they had “fully discussed the matter” and he had agreed to dismiss his case in its entirety.
The request was made “without prejudice,” meaning the composer could potentially refile the lawsuit at some point in the future. But the agreement also said the dismissal “shall in no way waive or otherwise impact” Jonasi’s right to seek repayment of his attorney’s fees under California’s anti-SLAPP law.
That statute is designed to restrict lawsuits that harm free speech, and one of its key provisions empowers victorious defendants to win back their legal bills from dismissed lawsuits. And in his statement to Billboard on Monday, Jonasi’s attorney Sullivan confirmed that his client would now seek the fees for those exact reasons.
“We remain committed to vigorously defending our client’s constitutional rights and protecting against meritless claims designed to chill protected speech,” Sullivan said.
Morake’s attorneys did not immediately return a request for comment on why their client had dropped the case or on the looming demand for attorney’s fees.
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