Overview
- The Grammy-winning composer filed a federal complaint on March 16 in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, alleging a viral podcast claim and standup bit falsely translated the Zulu/isiXhosa chant.
- Jonasi, who was served onstage at the Laugh Factory and has no attorney listed in court filings, is selling themed T-shirts and running a GoFundMe that has raised more than $16,000 for legal fees.
- The lawsuit brings claims under the Lanham Act along with defamation per se, trade libel, and tortious interference, seeking more than $20 million in actual damages plus $7 million in punitive damages.
- Disney’s official rendering of “Nants’ingonyama bagithi Baba” is “All hail the king, we all bow in the presence of the king,” and the suit says “ingonyama” is a royal metaphor in praise poetry, not a literal “lion.”
- Morake says the bit was presented “as authoritative fact,” not parody, which could influence how courts balance comedy and false statements in viral content, and Disney has not commented.