Actor denies meeting Meghan Markle following shocking interview linking her wedding to Mandela’s release.

Actor denies meeting Meghan Markle following shocking interview linking her wedding to Mandela’s release. An actor who claims to be the only South African in Disney’s recent remake of The Lion King told MailOnline he is “baffled” by the Duchess of Sussex’s suggestion that his country had “rejoiced” when she married Prince Harry and that he has never met her. The actor is a friend of Nelson Mandela and was in the film Invictus.

According to Dr. John Kani, the Duchess of Sussex committed a “faux pas” when she suggested, in an interview with a US magazine, that the celebrations surrounding her 2018 royal wedding were similar to those that followed the liberation of his comrade Madiba, the iconic anti-apartheid hero.

He compared Mr. Mandela’s release from prison after 27 years to the wedding of Meghan Markle and Prince Harry, calling the former a “landmark moment” and the latter “no big deal” in South Africa.

The shocking interview appeared in The Cut, and it alleged that at the 2019 London premiere of the live-action The Lion King film, a male South African cast member had told Meghan the contrary. That the Duchess said, “He stared at me, and he’s just like light,” was quoted. To paraphrase what he actually said, “I just need you to know: When you married into this family, we cheered in the streets the same way we did when Mandela was freed from prison.”

In contrast, Dr. Kani, a veteran of the Royal Shakespeare Company who provided the voice for the mandrill shaman Rafiki, told MailOnline that he was the only South African in the Disney film, that he had never met Meghan, and that he had not attended the UK premiere.

Lebo M, a South African composer who worked on The Lion King score alongside Hans Zimmer, was the only other South African participating, he added. On the other hand, Lebo M was noticeably absent.

He claimed, “I have never met Meghan Markle,” as he sat under a painting of his friend, Nelson Mandela, in his Johannesburg home. It seems like she made a social faux pas here. The Duchess and I have never even spoken. I was the only cast member from South Africa who was unable to make it to the London premiere.

I went to the Hollywood premiere, but I couldn’t stay long since I had to go straight to Paris to film the sequel to my picture. Only I, as Rafiki, was a South African there. However, I was too busy to attend the opening night festivities at Leicester Square. Maybe she’s having a lapse in memory. To put it simply, I don’t understand. There is no other South African in the ensemble. Rafiki here, Pumbaa by Seth Rogen, Simba by Donald Glover, and Nala by Beyoncé.

The actor said, “I cannot even tell you today what month she married or what year” when asked if Harry and Meghan’s wedding was a “huge affair” in his nation.

Dr. Kani expressed doubt that as many South Africans cheered Meghan and Harry’s wedding as they did after the liberation of anti-apartheid activist Nelson Mandela.

He recalled, “No one would have known when or what she got married to in my memory.” The fact that she married Harry or that we had any connection to South Africa is completely irrelevant.

He exclaimed, “I find this quite surprising.” Personally, I don’t see any big deal about this.

They (the Sussexes and Disney) have been contacted by MailOnline to address his allegations. No one from The Cut was willing to speak to us for this article.

On February 11, 1990, the world came to a halt. It’s safe to say that Mr. Mandela’s face was unknown to the majority of the population and those born in the 1970s.

South Africa, Africa, and the rest of the world watched in rapt attention as the prison gates at Pollsmoor opened.

We hadn’t seen Mr. Mandela since 1964, and it wasn’t until he raised his hand that we realized he was the one walking behind Winnie (his then-wife).

Indeed, that was a global phenomenon. Surely the news of Miss Meghan or whoever getting married into the royal family can’t even be mentioned in the same sentence.

The world will always have access to our recollections of it. It’s like, “Where were you when JFK was shot?” or “Where were you when Nelson Mandela was freed?”

To answer the question, “Where were you when Meghan married Harry?” would be a lie.

This has left me bewildered. In her own eyes, she is a significant figure.

Their decision to cut links with the Royal Family, Harry’s inability to serve and perform his usual duties, their relocation to the United States, their appearances on Oprah Winfrey’s show, and so on have prompted a wide range of reactions around the world. For no other reason than pure curiosity, we’ve been keeping up with that narrative.

“But other than that, I don’t know her, never met her, and wasn’t in London, and I’m the only South African actor in The Lion King.”

Mr. Kani, who oversaw Mandela’s programming, has stated that he does not think Meghan’s comparison of herself to Mandela is offensive to South Africa.

Many tourists visited South Africa for the sole purpose of meeting Nelson Mandela.

At one point, we were so bored that we considered making a cardboard cut-out of Nelson Mandela so that they could pose with it for a photo.

Mr. Mandela was both a mystery and a sage in his native South Africa. Meeting him brought that cultural depth.

You felt like you were meeting a father figure more than the President of the United States. Dada is Spanish for “Daddy,” so that’s what we called him.

Actually, I’m not sure if it qualifies as an insult at all. Surely this is a social gaffe. There’s a potent blend that Meghan is preparing.

Hours earlier Nelson Mandela’s grandson made a fresh attack on Meghan Markle and challenged her to ‘pull up her sleeves and do more for regular people after she drew a connection between her royal wedding day and Madiba’s departure from jail after 27 years of incarceration.

Zwelivelile ‘Mandla’ Mandela told MailOnline he was ‘surprised’ at her claims in The Cut magazine when she claimed that three years ago a cast member of the Lion King informed her that ‘we cheered in the streets the like we did when Mandela was liberated from prison.

That “every day there are people who aspire to be Nelson Mandela,” he said, “either by comparing themselves with him or desiring to copy him.”

He recently gave his advice to the former actress in an interview with The Times, telling her to “get out there, pull up your sleeves, and better the lives of ordinary people in England and the United Kingdom.” He continued, “For the personality she is, she can do a lot of good in the global community by adopting the causes that Madiba championed.”

The former Suits star detailed an interaction she had at the 2019 London premiere of a live-action adaptation of the Disney classic in a 6,409-word piece titled “Meghan of Montecito.”

She said that a South African actress had ushered her aside and informed her, “I just need you to know: When you married into our family, we rejoiced in the streets the same we did when Mandela was freed from prison.”

Mandla said that his spectacular trek to freedom in 1990 was celebrated all over South Africa as a victory over apartheid and colonialism.

The African National Congress lawmaker claimed that the 2018 wedding of the duchess “to a white prince” was insignificant compared to his grandfather’s release from prison in 1990.

Saying that “it can never be compared to the celebration of someone’s wedding,” he gave that opinion to MailOnline. There were 350 years of colonialism and 60 years of a harsh apartheid dictatorship in South Africa, and Madiba’s celebration was predicated on this triumph over both. Consequently, it cannot be compared to anything else.

But the Mandelas themselves have been taken aback by the news, as reported by MailOnline. Parliamentarian and Chief of the Mvezo clan, which included the late South African President, ‘Mandla’ Mandela, expressed his surprise at her comments.

After being imprisoned for 27 years, his grandfather managed to bring together his political opponents and eventually become the leader of his country.

Zwelivelile claimed that when South Africans celebrated his grandfather’s release and danced in the streets, it was for a much more significant and weighty reason than her marriage ‘to a white prince.

The lawmaker from the African National Congress continued, “We are still suffering scars of the past.” But they (Mr. Mandela’s celebrations) resulted from the bulk of our people being pulled out onto the streets to exercise the right of voting.

He advocated on behalf of society’s most helpless members, including disadvantaged children, women, and minorities.

He frequently brought up the plight of oppressed nations around the world, but few people seemed to care.

But this is the sort of behavior we like to see from those who fancy themselves the next Nelson Mandela.

And then you may fight for the causes he stood for, as he did.

He encouraged everyone to follow Nelson Mandela’s example and devote themselves to the issues he championed.

That is the gold standard. What good does it do for people to dance in the streets and sing President Nelson Mandela’s name if they advocate policies that are in direct opposition to his?

“Nelson Mandela’s release from prison marked the end of over 350 years of struggle for which generations of our people paid with their lives. No other event can ever measure up to the joy of a wedding.

Critics have called for Meghan to “go lost” and accused her of showing the “utmost disrespect” with their responses to her claim.

An expert on the royal family reacted to today’s exclusive report in MailOnline by asking, “How long is Meghan going to pour out her drivel?” Enough is enough. It’s hardly shocking to find out that Nelson Mandela’s grandson is upset over Meghan comparing her nuptials to his grandfather’s freedom from jail.

Many South Africans have expressed their disapproval of Meghan Markle after she revealed that her son Archie’s room caught fire while the family was visiting the nation.

The Duchess of Sussex revealed tennis star Serena Williams in her new podcast that she was “shaken and in tears” after a heater caught fire in a hotel room in Cape Town, even though her then-four-month-old son Archie was not present.

Others are said to recollect the incident that occurred on September 23, 2019; they do not recall a fire, but do recall that the heater was smoking and was disconnected and dealt with.

Despite her disappointment, Meghan stated in a Spotify podcast that she was obligated to continue with official engagements and blamed the tour organizers for focusing on “how it looks, instead of how it feels.”

South Africans, however, have not taken kindly to her allegations on social media, with the unpleasant hashtag #VoetsekMeghan (which translates to “go away”) trending on Twitter.