Mystery of Meghan Markle's 'Nelson Mandela' comment deepens after actor John Kani denies EVER meeting her
NEW BRIGHTON, SOUTH AFRICA: The Duchess of Sussex has allegedly committed a ‘faux pas’ by comparing her wedding with Nelson Mandela's release from jail, according to Dr John Kani, who claimed to be the only South African cast member of 'The Lion King'. According to Dr John Kani, he has never met Meghan during the UK premiere in 2019. The only other South African engaged in the movie, according to Kani, was composer Lebo M, who was not in the cast and provided the voice of the mandrill shaman Rafiki in Disney's live-action version.
Earlier, in an interview for The Cut, Meghan said that South Africans were ecstatic about her marriage to Prince Harry. Meghan said, "I just had Archie. It was such a cruel chapter. I was scared to go out,” adding that a cast member from South Africa had approached her privately during the event. "He looked at me, and he's just like light. He said, 'I just need you to know: When you married into this family, we rejoiced in the streets the same we did when Mandela was freed from prison,’” Meghan added.
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Kani, however, claims that it never happened. Dr John Kani is a well-known South African actor, author, director, and playwright who is well recognized for T'Chaka in the Marvel Cinematic Universe films 'Captain America: Civil War' and 'Black Panther', Rafiki in the 2019 remake of 'The Lion King', and Colonel Ulenga in the Netflix film 'Murder Mystery'. Kani confessed to the MailOnline, "I have never met Meghan Markle. This seems like something of a faux pas by her. I have never met the duchess at all. I am the only South African member of the cast and I did not attend the premiere in London. The only South African was me playing Rafiki. But I did not go to the opening in Leicester Square as I didn't have the time to do that. It just may be a misremembering on her side. It is baffling me."
Mystery over Meghan Markle's Nelson Mandela claims as actor who says he's the ONLY South African in Lion King live action film insists he's NEVER met Duchess after bombshell interview cla...
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He claimed that South Africans did not pay much attention to Meghan and Prince Harry's wedding, which took place in May 2018. "In my memory, nobody would have known when she got married, when or what. We had no South African link to the wedding or to her marrying Harry,” Kani added. Kani's remarks echo those of Nelson Mandela's grandson, who declared that the royal wedding could never be compared to the activist's release from prison.
Zwelivelile 'Mandla' Mandela added that the historic moment in 1990, when Mandela was freed from Robben Island Prison after 27 years, represented more than a marriage to a "white prince." Speaking to the MailOnline, He said his grandfather's release was "based on overcoming 350 years of colonialism with 60 years of a brutal apartheid regime in South Africa. So it cannot be equated to as the same. It can never be compared to the celebration of someone's wedding. Every day there are people who want to be Nelson Mandela, either comparing themselves with him or wanting to emulate him. But before people can regard themselves as Nelson Mandelas, they should be looking into the work that he did and be able to be champions and advocates of the work that he himself championed."