Khaby Lame, the renowned TikTok personality, faced detention in the United States due to immigration infractions over the past weekend.
The Italian influencer, who enjoys a following of over 162 million on TikTok and has amassed 2.5 billion likes, holds the record as the most followed individual on the platform. Nonetheless, this did not prevent the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) from detaining him as he attempted to exit the country on Friday, June 6.
Originally from Senegal, Lame had traveled to the United States on April 30 to get ready for the Met Gala occurring on May 5. He worked with Hugo Boss, who dressed him for the prestigious event.
Unfortunately, the situation took a downturn when he tried to leave from Las Vegas.
ICE released a statement to AFP confirming: “US Immigration and Customs Enforcement detained Seringe Khabane Lame, 25, a citizen of Italy, June 6, at the Harry Reid International Airport, Las Vegas, Nevada for immigration violations.”
The agency clarified that he was detained for ‘overstaying the terms of his visa,’ but the UNICEF goodwill ambassador was released later that day and ‘has since departed the US.’
Lame has not publicly commented on this incident, indicating it might have been a minor setback in his otherwise successful life. He even uploaded a TikTok video yesterday, featuring a promotional clip where he mimicked mining like a Minecraft character alongside Tony the Tiger from Kelloggs.
Lame’s life five years ago was vastly different compared to today. His journey on TikTok commenced in 2020 following the loss of his factory job during the Covid-19 pandemic.
In an interview with Today last year, he recounted: “I started during the pandemic when I lost my job. I started to make happy videos on social media, but was never thinking that they were gonna grow like this, you know?”
“I was just making videos to make people happy.”
When questioned about why his videos have such a global appeal, he responded: “I think people like my videos for the expression, for the simplicity there, because it’s a simple video.”
“And then the effect that I don’t talk is a universal language. All the people can understand and be part of the comedy without having words. They just have to watch the video and enjoy it.”
In addition to attending the Met Gala, he also shared a video showing him wearing a Los Angeles Lakers jersey with Kobe Bryant’s name on it.