Overview
- Morake's federal complaint in Los Angeles, filed this month, seeks $27 million in damages and claims viral jokes hurt his Disney ties and royalty income.
- The dispute traces to a Feb. 25 One54 podcast episode where Learnmore Jonasi sang the Zulu opening and translated it as “Look, there’s a lion. Oh my god,” diverging from Disney’s cited royal phrasing.
- The lawsuit says Jonasi repeated a similar bit during a March 12 Los Angeles set that drew a standing ovation, which helped the clip spread online.
- The filing argues Jonasi stated the translation as authoritative fact, so typical First Amendment protections for parody should not apply.
- Jonasi says he meant no harm, calls himself a fan, and says he dropped a plan to film an explainer with Morake after being called “self-hating” in private messages.