Who is Khaby Lame? World's most-followed TikToker forced to leave US after being detained by ICE

Khaby Lame is a Senegalese-origin Italian content creator, who has 160 million followers on Tiktok, the most in the world.

Updated on: Jun 11, 2025, 13:33:21 IST

By Abhimanyu Mathur

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Khaby Lame, the world's most popular TikTok personality with millions of followers, left the US on Tuesday, after being detained by immigration agents in Las Vegas for allegedly overstaying his visa. Khaby, who shot to fame during the pandemic for his silent reaction videos on TikTok and Instagram, has close to 300 million followers across social media platforms. (Also read: World’s most popular TikTok star Khaby Lame leaves the U.S. after being detained by ICE)

Khaby Lame, the world's most-followed Tiktoker, was forced to leave the US. (Scott Garfitt/Invision/AP File) (AP)

Why was Khaby forced to leave the US?

A spokesperson for US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) confirmed in a statement that the Senegalese-Italian influencer was detained on Friday at Harry Reid International Airport but allowed to leave the country without a deportation order.

Khaby arrived in the US on April 30 and "overstayed the terms of his visa," the ICE spokesperson said. Associated Press stated that they sent a message seeking comment on Tuesday to the email address listed on Lame's Instagram account. He has not publicly commented on his detainment.

His detainment and voluntary departure from the US come amid President Donald Trump's escalating crackdown on immigration, including raids in Los Angeles that sparked days of protests against ICE, as the president tests the bounds of his executive authority.

Was Khaby deported?

However, unlike many others, Khaby was not deported. He was allowed the option of voluntary departure. This allows those facing removal from the U.S. to avoid a deportation order on their immigration record, which could prevent them from being allowed back into the U.S. for up to a decade.

Who is Khaby Lame?

Khaby, whose real name is Seringe Khabane Lame, is a Senegalese-origin Italian content creator and influencer. Khaby moved to Italy when he was an infant, and has Italian citizenship. The 25-year-old rose to international fame during the pandemic without ever saying a word in his videos, which would show him reacting to absurdly complicated "life hacks." He has over 162 million followers on TikTok alone, along with 80 million on Instagram.

His internet fame quickly evolved. He signed a multi-year partnership with designer brand Hugo Boss in 2022. Khaby has also crossed over to mainstream entertainment riding on his internet fame. He had a voice cameo in the Italian dub of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever in 2022. Two years later, he made his acting debut with a cameo in Will Smith and Martin Lawrence-starrer Bad Boys: Ride or Die. The same year, he starred in his own unscripted comedy series Khaby Is Coming to America, which premiered on Tubi.

In January 2025, he was appointed as a UNICEF goodwill ambassador. Last month, Khaby attended the Met Gala in New York City, days after arriving in the US.

(With inputs from AP)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Abhimanyu Mathur
Abhimanyu Mathur is Deputy Editor, Entertainment at Hindustan Times. With almost 15 years of experience in writing about everything from films and TV shows to cricket matches and elections, he inhales and exhales pop culture and news. Currently, he watches movies and TV shows and talks to celebrities for a living, while occasionally writing about them as well. A journalism graduate of Delhi College of Arts and Commerce, Delhi University, Abhimanyu began his career with Hindustan Times at the age of 20, swapping classrooms for newsrooms at an early age. He began his journey in the early days of digital journalism, later switching to the madness of print journalism. Work has led him to far off places like Japan and Jordan, as well as to the interiors of Haryana and the Indo-Pak border. He dabbled in city reporting in places like Meerut, Gurgaon, and Delhi, covered the Olympics and Cricket World Cups, before finding his calling in entertainment and lifestyle during the pandemic. A Rotten Tomatoes Certified Film Critic, he is equally at home covering stories on ground as he is interviewing celebrities and studios, and sometimes prefers to shepherd teams in delivering traffic through the day. Even as his role has evolved from reporter to supervisor over the years, his first love remains writing (and of late, talking on camera). With a good understanding of cinema and its trends, and a keen eye for detail, he continues to spark conversations around showbiz for readers around the world.Read More

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